Across the Stars
by crazyjw18
Summary: A direct sequel to Lum Gets Grounded. Ataru and Lum start a new life as newlyweds while on Earth Shutaro tries to cope with all the changes in his own life. But a galactic war looms on the horizon and threatens them all.
1. Old Friends

Miyake Shinobu yawned sleepily and stretched her arms. Looking at her clock, she groaned. No one had bothered to wake her up, and now she had slept her whole Saturday morning away.

Getting out of bed, she looked out her window. The weatherman had forecast thunderstorms for that afternoon, but it was still nice and sunny out. She frowned, having not made any plans with Inaba because of the rain that was supposed to be pouring down. It was way too late to try to do anything now.

Feeling gloomy, she plopped back down on the edge of the bed, wondering what to do now. The pile of books on the nearby table beckoned to her. That had been her original plan for today, to get some serious studying done. The entrance exams were drawing closer every day, after all.

After getting a snack, Shinobu headed back up to her room and scooted up close to the table. Cracking open her math book, she started doing a few problems. Since she paid attention and took good notes, the problems weren't that hard, just extremely tedious. The pleasant sunlight streaming in through the window wasn't helping her stay concentrated either.

She managed to finish a few more problems before she started daydreaming, wondering what she would have done with Inaba today. Most likely they would have just gone for a walk and had lunch somewhere, but that would have been more than enough. She was happy just to be with him, what they did really wasn't that important. She figured he felt the same way, as he was always eager for their simple dates.

Still thinking about how nice Inaba was, her wandering eyes spied an envelope stuck in the corner of her dresser's mirror. Realizing that she wasn't getting any work done anyways, she hopped up and retrieved it. Sitting back down, she carefully opened the envelope and pulled out several well-creased pages. She'd already read the contents many times over, as had her friends, but she still couldn't help rereading them every once in a while.

The first letter's handwriting was surprisingly neat to be Ataru's. She unfolded it carefully and started reading.

_Hey Everyone,_

_It was really nice to hear from all of you. Right now we don't have any idea how long it will be until we can return to Earth. To the best of our knowledge Uru is still planning the invasion, we just don't know when. The situation really worries us both, but it's not like there's anything we can do about it._

_I'm glad to hear most of you ended up in the same class again. Please tell Onsen-Mark that I said hey, and that we both miss his lectures. Try to make it sound sincere though. I don't know what I'm going to do about exams, but I guess there are always cram schools. I have learned a lot since this summer because we had a job repairing this huge spaceship, but that's not something that translates well into academics. I am now considering going into a trade school someday though._

_Since it seems to be such a hot topic, let me just confirm that no, Lum has not dumped me yet. And no, she isn't planning to. In fact I recently asked her to be my wife officially, and she said yes. The wedding date is set for November 30__th__, if I'm doing the calculations right. I would love for all of you to be there, but unless something drastic happens that won't be possible. I am sorry. _

_Shinobu-chan, I'm really glad to hear that things are going well with Inaba. Aside from being totally clueless, he's a pretty cool guy. I really appreciate him doing this for us. I let my mom know our old house was safe, thanks for letting us know. Anyways, thanks for being such a good friend all these years. I really appreciate it, and I know that Lum does too. _

_Ryuu-chan, I haven't seen Benten-sama for a while due to the situation out here, but when I do I'll let her know you're waiting for that rematch. From what I hear, she's doing fine. Please tell your father that Oniboshi doesn't have any real oceans, though there are some nice beaches on a few of the larger lakes. I don't have a clue how he intended to get here anyhow. And to answer his other question, I have absolutely no idea. _

_Sakura-sensei, Ten wanted you to know that he is happy for you. He's kind of depressed about your engagement, but I don't think it's serious. He is just a brat after all. If you happen to see that little girl that had a crush on him, tell her he said hi and that he really misses her. Also please tell your uncle to stuff his ill omens. Maybe he could eat them instead of always being such a little mooch. It does figure that things would have finally quietened down after we left. I blame Lum wholeheartedly for any weird occurrences over the last few years. _

_Perm, sorry to hear things are so boring back there. I can't believe you are stuck hanging out with the likes of Mendou though, that's pretty bad. _

_Mendou, good buddy, I'm glad you are having such a good time with Asuka-chan. Please tell her to give you one of her special hugs for me, I know how much you love those. Tell your sister I said hi as well. _

_Well, that's about all I have to say right now. Aside from getting engaged and working a lot, not all that much has happened to us since we left Earth. Living on another planet is weird, but you get used to it pretty quick I guess. Until we speak again, I wish you all good luck._

_Your friend,_

_Moroboshi Ataru_

Shinobu sighed as she read his last lines yet again. Inaba had brought her these letters back in early November. Then just days before Ataru's wedding date the ships from Uru had arrived in Earth's orbit. It had been months since the ships had unexpectedly left them in peace, but they still hadn't heard anything more from Ataru.

She wished Inaba could go check on them again, but apparently he wasn't exactly supposed to travel that far from his own sector of subspace without a good work related reason. When his supervisors had found out he hadn't been in too much trouble, but he wasn't going to risk it again. She hated that he had gotten yelled at in the first place just to please her.

In any case, she couldn't help but worry. The Uruseins hadn't given Earth any demands; they simply ordered the planet's military to stand down. Then without warning the ships had quickly left the Earth's orbit a few days later. A lot of theories were still flying around, but no one knew for sure what was going on out there.

Ataru had told Inaba that the Uruseins were somehow blocking Earth's satellites from receiving Oniboshi's communications, and they had no other way to contact the planet. She had initially hoped after the invaders had left that Ataru and Lum would return, but as time went on that hope had faded.

Picking up the other letter, Shinobu smiled sadly. Things had been rough between herself and Lum for a long time, but they had eventually become good friends. She unfolded it just as carefully and began scanning through it.

_Hi! _

_How are you all doing? I hope everyone is ok there. It really seems like forever since we've talked. I regret that we all didn't get to go on any trips this summer. We were going to invite everyone to go to the beach right before the fall semester started, but then all this happened. I hate that we didn't even get to say goodbye._

_We had a lot of fun reading your letters. Please thank Inaba again for going out of his way for us. I know Darling misses hanging out with all of you, and I feel the same way. We've really had a lot of fun times together since I came to Earth. _

_If you've already read Darling's letter, then you know what's going on between us. You can imagine my shock when he proposed to me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago. I've been really busy planning our wedding, and I wish everyone could see the dress I picked out yesterday. It is so cute! I just hope Darling likes it. I can't wait to see his expression when I walk down the aisle. _

_I know several of you were worried about our relationship, but things have never been better. We don't fight as much anymore, and Darling's been so sweet lately. I'm not sure what's changed between us, but I'm certainly not complaining. _

_We were staying at my parent's house for a while, but now we're living in our UFO. Our days are much different from when we were students. Darling doesn't like relying on my parents, so we've been picking up repair jobs when we can. That leaves us a lot of free time, but now I'm spending a lot of it planning the wedding._

_Congratulations Sakura-sensei, I'm really glad to hear you and Tsubame are getting married too. Shinobu-chan, it sounds like you've found that special someone for you too. I'm really happy for all of you, and I hope we can all see each other again soon._

_With Love,_

_Lum _

A single tear ran down Shinobu's cheek as she finished reading. It really wasn't fair that things had turned out this way. It had seemed annoying at the time, but she missed all the adventures and rowdy class times they had survived last year. Though she was very happy with Inaba, life just wasn't as exciting anymore. It seemed like their little group was losing touch more and more without Tomobiki's oddest couple to bring them together.

It suddenly occurred to Shinobu that she didn't have to let things be that way. Here it was a beautiful day out, and she was sitting around in her room moping. Putting the letters away, she started getting ready to go out.

* * *

Young Master, you have a phone call."

Mendou Shutaro didn't bother to look up from the report he was reading. "Who is it?"

"A Miss Miyake," his retainer replied.

"Shinobu-san?" Mendou asked, looking curious. He put down the paper and rushed over to the nearest telephone.

"Hello?"

"Mendou-san, is that you?" Shinobu asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, what's going on?" He tried to sound casual. Shinobu hadn't called him in at least a year now.

"I was just thinking that it's a really pretty day out, and I'm kind of bored. So would you like to go do something?" She paused, afraid he might get the wrong idea. "Just as friends of course."

"Of course," he stuttered. "Sure, I wasn't doing anything important." He glanced at the financial reports scattered across the table. It was nothing that he couldn't handle later. "Where do you want to go?"

"It doesn't really matter," Shinobu replied. "How about the park?"

"That's fine. Do you want me to send a car for you?" Mendou asked.

"Nah, it's not far. I'll just meet you there," she told him before hanging up.

Shutaro stared at the phone for a moment. Why did Shinobu suddenly want to hang out with him? Was she having a spat with that ridiculous rabbit costumed guy? He could only hope.

He felt a bit guilty to be getting excited about a date when he was supposedly betrothed to Asuka, but frankly things were getting pretty stale between them. They had spent a lot of time together, but other than trying to working on her fear of men, they hadn't made any progress in their relationship. She still seemed to have an unnatural affection for her own brother that was creeping Shutaro out more and more. He was starting to wonder if he only spent time with her out of pure loneliness.

"I'm heading out," he announced to his retainer, snatching up his ever-present katana as he left the room. "Please don't tell anyone who called."

"Will you require an escort?"

Shutaro shook his head adamantly. "No, I'll be fine. I've got my phone if anything comes up."

* * *

"Mendou-san!" Shinobu called out, waving to get his attention.

He turned, finally spotting her near the fountain. It was just his luck that the park would be insanely busy today. It was only early March; the cherry blossoms weren't even out yet.

"Shinobu-san," he greeted her warmly. "Have you been waiting long?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, I just got here," she cheerfully replied. "Isn't it just a gorgeous day?"

Shutaro looked up at the clear sky. "Yeah, it's nice out."

"It was supposed to rain," she pouted. "I was going to stay in and study, but I just couldn't on a day like this."

He nodded, but he really would have been perfectly happy to remain in his nice climate controlled mansion on a chilly day like this. Maybe in a couple more months when it was actually warm out he would be able to share her sentiment in truth.

"So, what did you want to do?" he asked, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.

"I don't know," she replied. "For starters, we could just walk around and catch up a bit. We might be in the same class, but it seems like we hardly ever talk anymore."

He nodded. "That's fine." Whatever she wanted to do was fine, even if it was a bit vague.

"So," he began, "What's going on in your life?"

"Not that much," she admitted. "I've just been studying a lot and hanging around the house. She quietly sighed. "I suppose I have a really boring life."

"Sounds pretty normal," he replied. "Spring has yet to come, after all."

"Well, what have you been up to?" she asked.

He thought for a moment. "I went skiing up north last weekend," he mused. "A couple of weekends before that, I visited one of our southern resorts to swim and relax a bit."

"See, your life is a lot more exciting than mine," Shinobu whined. "I've barely even left Tomobiki since last summer."

"Is that right?" Shutaro asked casually. "Well, next time I go out of town, if you want you could come with me."

She frowned slightly. In the past he had invited her along on a lot of trips, but she had always suspected that her role was either to make Lum feel more comfortable, or to occupy Ataru. Why would he be asking her now?

He noticed her hesitation. "If you don't want to, that's fine too," he stammered out. He mentally groaned. Real smooth there, Shutaro. What had happened to his once confidently debonair way of winning over the ladies?

Shinobu looked at him, surprised to hear him tripping over his words. "I'll think about it," she replied. "Are you ok?" she asked, looking at him more closely.

"Of course," he replied, forcing himself to act confident. "Well, I'll inform you the next time I'm planning a trip, and you can let me know then."

"Ok," she agreed cautiously. Mendou wasn't acting like himself at all today. She hoped that he wasn't feeling under the weather or anything. It was a bit chilly out, and she didn't want him catching a cold on her account.

They walked a bit longer in silence. Shutaro glanced over once or twice, but really wasn't sure what to say. Finally he decided to just get it over with and ask her straight out.

"So, how are things going with you and Inaba-san?" he inquired, trying to sound like he was just making conversation.

"Pretty good," Shinobu replied. "I mean, we don't get to see each other as much as I'd like, but other than that I don't have any complaints. He's a really sweet guy."

He almost grimaced but managed to smile instead. "That's good," he replied. It looked like Shinobu wasn't on the outs with the bunny man after all. She must have meant it earlier when she had asked him out as a friend.

"How about you and Asuka-chan?" she asked. "I know you've been hanging out with her a lot lately."

Shutaro wrestled for a few seconds whether he should tell the truth. In the end his accursed pride won out. "Oh, things are great," he lied. "She's a really great girl."

"I'm glad to hear that," Shinobu replied. "Is she starting to get used to other men?"

"Somewhat," he replied. Asuka didn't run at the very sight of a man anymore, but if they got within a few feet of her she still tended to run like the wind. It was extremely frustrating. They couldn't go anywhere besides their estates; dining out or visiting resorts together was completely out of the question. Not that she had any interest in that sort of thing anyways. She was perfectly content to stay at home and fawn over her brother, Tobimaru.

Shinobu smiled, glad that things were going well for Mendou. He wasn't a bad guy at all, just a bit too vain and woman crazy for her tastes. It was nice that they could still hang out together without things being weird between them.

Shutaro's eyes wandered off towards the trees. The new leaves were slowly starting to come in on some of them, but it would be a while before the park would be covered in green. He sighed and wondered if he would still be in the same situation when these leaves started to fall once more.

"I was reading those old letters from Ataru and Lum-chan this morning," Shinobu suddenly announced. "They got me thinking about how quiet things have been around here since they left."

"I know what you mean," Shutaro agreed, keeping his eyes firmly on the sky. "That Moroboshi always caused trouble for everyone."

Shinobu giggled. "That's true, but it was a lot of fun, wasn't it?"

"At times," he grudgingly admitted. "I don't know if I would attribute that to Moroboshi though."

"Oh, come off it," she replied. "You don't hate him half as much as you want people to think."

"He's uncouth, loud, impolite, disrespectful, and idiotic," Shutaro protested dramatically.

"Fine, have it your way," she teased.

He was quiet for a few more minutes. "I must wonder if that lout's married now."

"I don't know," Shinobu replied, "but I hope so." She sighed and looked down. "Do you think they're ok?"

"Moroboshi's got the devil's luck," Shutaro responded. "And he wouldn't let anything happen to Lum-san either.

"That's true," she agreed quietly. "I wonder if they'll ever come back here."

He smiled, trying to cheer Shinobu up. "I'm sure they will sooner or later."

* * *

Ryuunosuke grunted as she hefted the heavy bag of rice that she was attempting to get home. It was just like her father to make her carry it back by herself. It wasn't like he needed to buy so much at one time anyways. The market wouldn't give them a bulk discount or anything. She suspected he did it just to inflict more torture on her. At this rate it was going to be dark before she could get back to the school.

She staggered down the street a bit more before setting the bag down again. This was torture on her back. Out of breath, she leaned against the park fence for a moment. That old man was really going to get it as soon as she got back.

She was surprised to hear someone faintly calling out her name. Looking around, she quickly spied Shinobu coming her way with that idiot Mendou in tow. She rolled her eyes, not really wanting to hear any crappy pick up lines from the smug jerk. Shinobu was fine, but Mendou tended to really get on her nerves. She waved curtly back at them and crossed her hands behind her head casually.

"Ryuunosuke, what a pleasant surprise to see you here," he greeted her warmly. She might be a bit rough, but she was still a female, and he was compelled to be polite.

Shinobu smiled. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking curiously at the huge canvas bag Ryuunosuke had been carrying.

"Trying to get this rice home," Ryuunosuke replied. "I've still got a long ways to go, so I should probably get going."

"How are you going to carry that all the way back by yourself?" Shinobu inquired worriedly.

"I'll get it there, no problem," the girl answered proudly.

Shinobu frowned and whacked Mendou on the arm. "Help her carry it!" she commanded.

"That's ok," Ryuunosuke objected. "I got it."

"No, no, I insist," he said, seeing a chance to be chivalrous. He bent down and took hold of the sack, pulling up as hard as he could. It didn't budge.

"Little too heavy for you?" Ryuunosuke asked wryly.

"This is nothing," he insisted, his face turning slightly red. He managed to get it about an inch off the ground before the weight forced him back down. "How did you get this so far?" he demanded.

She glared. "My stupid dad is always making me do this stuff. Says it builds character."

Shutaro frowned for a moment, then whipped out his phone. "I need a truck here immediately," he commanded. Looking at the bag again, he added, "And a couple of strong guys too."

"You really don't have to do that," Ryuunosuke growled. This was turning into a real hassle very quickly.

"Nonsense," he replied blithely. "I refuse to let a lady carry such a heavy burden when it's within my power to help."

She crossed her arms and leaned back. Mendou might be annoying, but she wasn't stupid enough to let her pride keep her from accepting some help.

Within five minutes a rather large delivery truck screeched around the corner and slid to a stop next to them. A couple of burly guys in the usual black sunglasses and suits piled out and stood at attention.

"I need this delivered to Tomobiki High School," Shutaro told them. "Take it to the school store and give it to Mr. Fujinami.

"I'll just go with them," Ryuunosuke interjected. "Dad won't be home yet." She got a good grip on the bag and heaved it in the back of the truck, crawling in after it. "Thanks, Mendou, I appreciate it."

"Are you sure that you want to ride back there?" Shutaro asked, looking worried.

"It's fine," she said dismissively. "When I lived out in the country I used to hitch rides like this all the time."

Shutaro nodded. "Alright." He turned to the driver. "Drive carefully, and don't hit any bumps."

The retainer nodded and climbed back in with his partner.

As the truck rumbled off, Shinobu waved goodbye to Ryuunosuke. "That was really nice of you," she said.

"It's the least I could do," he answered. "A gentleman such as myself could never let a lady suffer so."

"Asuka-chan's a lucky girl," she replied.

Shutaro blushed ever so slightly. "Of course," he said with as much bravado as he could summon. "Any lady would be lucky to marry into the illustrious Mendou family."

Shinobu rolled her eyes. "You know, you would have gotten a lot more girls back in the day if you toned it down a bit," she told him bluntly. "No offense, but that arrogant attitude is a bit of a turn off."

His eyes widened; He was not used to Shinobu, or any other women aside from his sister for that matter, calling him out. "I apologize," he hastily stammered. "I wasn't aware that I was being arrogant."

She sighed. Mendou probably didn't even notice, it was such an ingrained part of his personality. "I'm not trying to be mean," she said more gently, "but you do come off that way at times."

"I see," Shutaro responded quietly. "I shall certainly try to watch that."

Shinobu smiled. "I guess it doesn't matter as much now though, since you have Asuka-chan."

"Yeah," he said distantly. "I guess not."

Shinobu frowned, afraid that she had actually hurt his feelings. Mendou wasn't acting like himself at all today. Between bursts of his usual confident air, he seemed almost nervous. "Why don't we go have some tea?" she suggested, trying to change the subject.

"That'd be nice," he said with a slight smile. "My family owns a nice little teashop right down the street that I've been meaning to try."

She listened carefully for any sign of conceit in Mendou's words, but he sounded like he was honestly just suggesting the place without trying to brag. "Ok," she agreed.


	2. Hunger and Love

Ran smiled apologetically at the viewscreen. "Sorry, Mama, but I'm not going to be able to go shopping with you today. Maybe we can go another time?"

Her mother glared back menacingly. "Well, are you at least coming over for dinner tonight?"

Ran almost shivered. "No, Mama," she answered meekly. "I've got a date with Rei-san tonight."

Her mother sighed. "It seems like you're off on a date almost every day."

"Rei-san can't cook very well," Ran explained patiently.

"Ran, you're going to spoil that boy," her mother warned.

"That's fine," Ran replied cheerfully. "As long as he's happy then I'm happy too."

"I don't recall raising you to be so dependent on a man."

"I'm not," Ran growled, finally losing her patience. "I just enjoy his company. Is that so wrong?"

"Whatever you say," her mother replied, nonplussed by her daughter's tone. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

Ran gritted her teeth as the phone disconnected. She tried hard not to lose her temper around her mother, but the longer she stayed nearby the harder it was. Sooner or later she had a feeling that she was going to say something that she would regret.

"Rei-san's going to love this new recipe," she muttered as she returned to the kitchen. Seeing one of her messenger dolls sitting nearby, she pursed her lips. "I should let him know that we're going out tonight."

She naturally assumed he would be free. The oni pilot lived on his own, his mother having kicked the overzealous eater out years ago. She sometimes wondered if she was the only one who still cared about him. Of course his peers recognized him for his piloting abilities, but even amongst them he had no real friends.

Quickly recording a message for the doll and making sure to turn off the self-destruct command, Ran sent it toddling off to find Rei. It would be easier just to call him, but she liked the extra personal touch. Plus the doll would find him no matter if he was home or not.

That done, she turned back towards the meal she had been preparing before her mother's call. At this rate she'd really have to hurry in order to get everything ready in time.

* * *

Rei glared irritably into his refrigerator. It seemed like he had just gone shopping, but once again the shelves were bare. He sighed and softly closed the door. It was hard having such a big appetite. When he was on duty he made do on tiny rations, and when he was at home he was constantly struggling to stay within his meager budget. If it wasn't for Ran's kindness he didn't know how he'd make it.

He sat down glumly. It wasn't his fault that he needed to eat so much. He had the rare ability to transform his body, and that took a lot of energy. Most Oni with their lightening or fire breathing just didn't understand how it was. Even in his normal form his body required the same amount of food as in his tiger-cow form.

Almost as bad as the hunger was the sheer boredom. He hadn't had this much free time in a long while, having been on active duty for months. Now with much of the fleet still undergoing repairs and Uru laying low, there wasn't anything he could do but stay home and be ready in case he was needed.

A soft tapping at the door shook him from his moping. Jumping up, he ran to answer it, hoping that it was who he thought it was. Sure enough a small mechanical Ran doll was standing outside, smiling innocently up at him.

Rei bent down low, hoping Ran hadn't forgotten to deactivate the explosives again.

"Ran-chan would like to invite you to dinner at seven tonight," the doll cheerfully informed him. "She hopes that you will come."

Rei eagerly nodded, grateful that Ran was thinking of him. "Yes," he replied.

The doll smiled and clapped its hands. "Wonderful," it cooed before shutting down.

Rei carefully scooped it up and carried it over to a shelf containing a large number of its brethren. Every once in awhile Ran would come to reclaim a few, but usually his collection was pretty full. They added a welcome bit of color to his otherwise drab apartment. He placed the new arrival in a neat row with the rest, smiling at the identical looks of joy on all of their faces.

Now his only problem was the long wait until dinner.

* * *

Ran hummed as she finished getting everything ready. Rei would be arriving any second now, and she wanted their romantic dinner to be perfect. She was just putting the dishes on the table when the doorbell chimed.

"Just a second," she called out, hastily setting out their places at the table. That done, she checked her reflection one last time in the mirror. She noted happily that not a single hair was out of place.

She threw open the door. "Rei-san!" she greeted her visitor. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Ran," he said in greeting.

Used to his one-word replies, Ran merely smiled and pulled him inside. "I'm glad you came," she gushed as she ushered him to a seat. "I've been working so hard to make you a big meal."

Rei smiled and licked his lips. He'd gone out and eaten a bit earlier but was still starved. He looked on greedily as she brought the first course out.

"Don't you dare transform," she scolded, seeing his horns and fangs begin to lengthen. "I don't want you breaking another one of my chairs."

He nodded and tried to calm himself. It wasn't easy to keep from transforming when everything smelled so good, but he could do it if he concentrated hard.

"You're doing good," she encouraged him, seeing his horns and teeth retract. "I'm really proud of you, Rei-san!"

He smiled uneasily. Ran was insisting more and more that he learn to control his power. To his surprise it wasn't for the same reasons as everyone else who wanted him to stay in humanoid form. Most thought he was scary and ugly as a tiger-cow, but she seemed to love him no matter which form he was in. She even appeared to prefer cuddling up to him when he was transformed.

No, her concerns were much more material. When he suddenly transformed he tended to break stuff. Rei knew that Ran took a lot of pride in how her saucer was decorated and furnished, and it took a lot out of her to see him wreck it accidentally. The chair she was referencing had apparently been quite difficult for her to replace. He was surprised that she still had enough faith to let him sit at the table.

Rei sat relatively calmly as she dished out his portion. He started greedily reaching for it, but Ran slapped his hands away.

"Use your chopsticks," she told him irritably.

He nodded, picked them up, and clumsily started eating. Chopsticks were not something he often had patience for, though he was able to do it when needed.

"Thank you," she told him as she started delicately in on her own meal. She knew from experience that it was impossible to get in a romantic mood if Rei was being a slob and gobbling down everything. One of her ongoing goals was to shape him into being a respectable and polite guy on his own.

"How is it?" she asked after a few minutes.

Rei glanced up. "Good," he answered before continuing to eat.

Ran smiled. "I'm glad you like it," she replied sweetly. "I worked really hard to make your favorites."

He smiled back between bites. The food really was good, though he was eating too fast to really savor the taste. Ran had always been a good cook, but in her recent campaign to win him over she had been constantly trying new recipes and ideas.

The contents of his plate quickly dwindled to naught. Noticing that his plate was empty, Ran hastened to refill it. It was a bit embarrassing that she was still just starting her own serving, but he couldn't help it.

* * *

After dinner Ran noticed that Rei was starting to look drowsy. Taking that as a sign of success, she began clearing the dirty dishes from the table while he retired to the couch. He usually got a bit sleepy when his belly was full.

Getting things put away, Ran returned and sat down close beside him. He smiled at her sleepily and leaned back, looking like he could fall asleep at any moment. She shyly leaned in a bit closer and was surprised to feel him lazily wrap his arm across her shoulders. It was sometimes hard to tell if he truly liked her or just her cooking, but little signs like this were very encouraging.

"Rei-san," she asked timidly, "are you happy?"

"Yes," he affirmed, on the verge of falling asleep. "Food Great," he finally finished.

Ran smiled, but wished he would focus on something other than dinner. "Are you comfortable?" she asked him.

"Warm," he replied, his eyes starting to close.

She idly wondered if he meant the temperature or her. There was no telling now; he wasn't likely to answer when he was this tired. Snuggling up closer, Ran closed her eyes as well, savoring his embrace.

"Ran?" he suddenly said, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Yes, Rei-san?" she prompted eagerly.

"Nice," he murmured.

She snuggled up closer. "What's nice?"

"Ran," he replied quietly. "Warm too."

She blushed, unused to him being so direct. "You're embarrassing me," she whispered back.

His sleepy voice murmured low, "Why so nice?"

She looked closely at him, surprised to hear an almost complete sentence from the abnormally curt boy. "Because I like you, silly," she replied shyly. "You know that I've liked you ever since we first met."

A faint smile returned to his face. "Like you too," he muttered.

Ran's face lit up. "How much do you like me?" she asked eagerly.

Rei didn't reply, having drifted off to sleep.

* * *

As Ran cuddled snugly next to the sleeping oni, she fondly thought back to the first time that she had laid eyes on him. It had been a nice sunny day, maybe six or seven years ago. She had been returning from a shopping trip in the capital with Lum when they had passed by the young hunk walking alone through the forest.

They had both been immediately enamoured by his looks, but to her disappointment Rei only seemed to have eyes for Lum. They had stopped and flirted with the quiet boy for a while, thinking he was just shy when he only said a few words in reply. After a few minutes they had to continue on towards home, and it was a couple of years before they saw him again.

The next time they had met him had been much closer to home. Once again she had fallen for his stunning good looks and sparkling eyes. And once again he had seemed a bit more interested in Lum, though he had smiled at them both quite a lot. They had chatted with him for a good while and learned to their surprise that he now lived just a few miles away from them.

Asking around afterwards, she had learned that he was the son of a fighter pilot. They'd had to move around a lot due to this, but things had changed after his father had recently been killed in an accident. Her heart had gone out to the oni boy, and she had been determined to both cheer him up and win his heart.

For three years Ran had showered him with gifts, quickly learning that food was the best way to get his attention. It had seemed like he was starting to favor her over Lum. She had been ecstatic for weeks, though she hadn't told anyone of her hopes.

It had been a crushing blow when Lum had suddenly announced that they were getting engaged. True, Ran hadn't confided her own feelings to her best friend, but she still felt betrayed in the worst way. Lum, lost in her own crush on the boy, didn't even seem to notice the changes that started to manifest in Ran that day.

She had wandered around in total disbelief for days. After all that effort, after all the feelings she had thought Rei was developing for her, Lum had just swooped in and taken it all away without even trying. It was devastating and she still had trouble remembering it without either getting furious or breaking down in tears.

After that she had stopped hanging out with either of them, wallowing in misery by herself. It wasn't long before she noticed that she was starting to develop a nasty temper to match that of her mother. It was a horrifying realization. She hated her mother's bitter attitude towards most people and decided that no matter what she wouldn't be like that.

So Ran had forced herself to be sickeningly sweet to everyone, though she still refused to even speak to her former best friend. Her new gentle temperament gradually became dominant, though she still found her angry side still taking over from time to time.

Her anger had risen to new limits once she had heard that Lum had dumped Rei. And what was worse was that he had left the planet to receive pilot training, not even giving her a chance to have another go at winning his affections herself. She had been furious for weeks, plotting more and more sadistic ways to make Lum's life miserable.

Then Lum had left as well, and to top things off word filtered back that she had found a husband on some far off planet. Seeing her chance for revenge, Ran had packed up and sought out this Earth. What better way to make Lum understand her pain than to ruin her happiness with this new man?

* * *

Ran sighed happily as her mind drifted back to the present. In the end she hadn't really been able to get her revenge through Darling, but she had succeeded in driving Lum nuts for a while. Not to mention she had reunited with Rei during that time. It had been trying, but with Lum out of the game Ran had finally managed to turn Rei's attention back in her direction.

Things really hadn't turned out bad, Ran mused, smiling happily at the slumbering oni beside her. She still couldn't actually bring herself to hate her childhood friend, and they were on much better terms than before she had visited Earth. Lum had Darling now, and he was a nice enough guy, if a bit weird. In any case their marriage had appeared to suppress any lingering feelings Rei had.

Ran yawned lazily, the preparations for tonight having worn her out a bit. Laying her head against Rei's chest, she closed her eyes and listened to his slow breathing. He'd probably wake up in a little while, but she was perfectly content to lie there until morning if he didn't. Sleep soon claimed her as well.


	3. Making Friends

The clerk stared off into space for several long seconds.

"Well?" Ataru demanded. "Are you going to tell me where it is or not?"

There was no response. Ataru frowned and reached over the counter to lightly rap on the man's forehead with his knuckles. "Anyone home?"

He glared at the silent clerk for a moment longer before stomping out of the store. The city of Saillune was far larger than the villages he was used to. Finding any useful information was nearly impossible.

"Ugh, I can't find out anything from these idiots," he loudly complained to no one in particular as he strolled down the busy street.

"You just gotta keep at it, 'Darling'!" someone in the crowd yelled derisively. Ataru looked around, but couldn't figure out who it was. He scowled and continued on his way.

Across the street a tall blonde man perked up upon hearing the name Darling. Rising from his comfortable seat on the curb, he glanced around. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but he wanted to be sure. Scanning the crowd wasn't hard with his height advantage.

He almost immediately spotted a familiar head of brown hair head bobbing down the street. For a moment he considered keeping his distance, but in the end his curiosity won out. "Ataru!" he yelled out in greeting as he waded through the throngs of townspeople.

Ataru froze in place, his head snapped around. Who would know his real name here? He soon caught sight of a blonde haired knight heading his way. The guy looked somewhat familiar, but why? He squinted, trying to read the guy's name. As he drew near, Ataru suddenly remembered.

"Gourry!" he called out happily. "It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has," Gourry replied, finally managing to get across the street. "Fancy running into you here of all places." He gestured loosely at the bustling city around them. "How long's it been?"

"Better part of a year, I guess," Ataru replied, trying to think.

"Hey, I really feel bad for how we left things before," Gourry told him solemnly. "Sorry about that."

Ataru waved his apology away. "You don't have anything to apologize for," he insisted. "You really helped me out, and you didn't have to do that. He looked perturbed for just a moment. "I understand now why Lina acted like that, but I didn't appreciate it."

Gourry looked relieved that Ataru wasn't mad at him. He had felt guilty for months over leaving their new friend like that, but Lina was insistent that they not bother with anyone associated with an Oni. Luckily she wasn't online yet or she'd be furious.

"Yeah," the knight replied. "I know that Lina's people had some bad dealings with oni in the past, so she's pretty touchy about them. I'm really sorry about that." He glanced around cautiously. "Are you still playing with that girl?" he asked warily.

"Yeah, I am," Ataru answered, his eyes narrowed. Just because he understood why they didn't like oni didn't mean he was going to stand for anyone judging Lum over it. "We actually got married a couple of months ago, so she's not going anywhere."

"Oh." Gourry scratched the back of his neck for a moment. "I thought you said you were already married," he said, looking puzzled. "You kept calling her your wife."

"It's kind of complicated," Ataru replied, looking embarrassed. "We finally made it legal though."

"Legal?" Gourry asked. He stared blankly for a long moment before he suddenly realized what Ataru meant. "You mean in real life, don't you?" He suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. "I thought you meant just in the game."

"Yeah, we're really married," Ataru said, one eyebrow raised. He wasn't even aware that there were people pretending to get married in a game.

"I see. I didn't even know you knew each other outside of here," Gourry replied, trying to think. "You aren't from a planet called Oniboshi, are you?"

"I'm from a place called Earth," Ataru replied hesitantly. "Lum's from Oniboshi though."

"That explains a lot," Gourry responded happily. "I read that they aren't much like the rest of the oni out there." He frowned. "I kept wondering why an oni girl was with someone of another race in the first place. Rumor is that they don't tend to like other people too much."

Ataru remembered how the Oni on Uru had looked at them. Interracial relationships were apparently unheard of there. "Yeah, the people on Oniboshi aren't like that at all," he replied grumpily.

"I haven't offended you, have I?" Gourry asked, his expression growing worried again.

"No, you're ok," Ataru answered. Gourry wasn't the most delicate guy, but he could tell the knight wasn't trying to be rude. "I know how a lot of oni act," he continued, "But just don't lump them all together. My wife's a great person, and I don't like anyone putting her down."

"I'm really sorry," Gourry apologized again. His big mouth always seemed to get him in trouble. Lina was always telling him to think more before he spoke.

"It's fine," Ataru insisted.

They shared a long awkward silence.

"So," Gourry finally asked, "what are you doing in Saillune? It's a long ways from that little village."

"Trying to find a quest," Ataru sighed. "We're hunting for some kind of shrine, but I can't get much info from anyone."

"I see," Gourry replied. "My party's just meeting here to do some shopping. They don't have as good of items out in the villages.

Ataru nodded. He was begining to notice that as well. Not that they could afford to upgrade right now anyways.

* * *

Lum looked around irritably, wishing for the thousandth time that she could fly. At last she spotted her missing husband standing on the side of the street ahead. Surprisingly enough he was avidly chatting with another player. Usually they tended to keep to themselves in the game.

As she drew closer, Lum realized that she had seen the blonde knight once before. He was one of the two players who had helped Darling rescue her from the orc cave way back when they had first started playing. She hesitated to approach the two, not wanting to scare Ataru's friend off.

Remembered how nice the guy had seemed before he ran off, Lum decided to risk it. She never had the chance to thank him for his help, after all. Maybe without that mage present he wouldn't be as skittish.

Ataru frowned as Gourry's eyes suddenly widened. He followed the knight's gaze back and was surprised to see Lum waiting patiently behind him. "Hey," he warmly greeted her. "I didn't know you were back already."

"Hi," she said cheerfully. She shifted her attention over to the knight. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Gourry," Ataru explained. "He helped save you from those orcs."

"Is that right?" she asked, feigning ignorance. "You have my thanks for that."

Gourry blushed. "Oh it was no big deal," he said nervously. "We got some good experience points out of it."

Lum smiled. He obviously wasn't completely comfortable around her, but he wasn't running away at least. "Well, we still owe you one," she replied.

Ataru nodded. "Definitely."

"No, it's fine," Gourry insisted. He looked down for a moment. "I'm really sorry about how we acted back then."

"I understand," Lum replied quietly, trying to sound casual. "Don't worry about it."

"Anyways, Ataru told me you two were married in real life?" Gourry asked, eager to change the subject.

Lum smiled again. "Yes, we are," she replied, her tone cheerful again.

"Well, congratulations," Gourry replied. "You two make a really cute couple."

Ataru grinned as Lum took hold of his arm possessively and smiled. "Don't we?" she asked.

"How are things between you and Lina?" Ataru asked in turn.

"Fine," Gourry replied bashfully.

"Oh, is she your girlfriend?" Lum asked curiously.

"Not really," Gourry said, slightly blushing. "Just a good friend."

"Is that really all?" Ataru asked slyly, nudging the embarrassed knight.

"Yeah," Gourry replied, looking a bit sad. "I mean, I think so. Lina doesn't really seem interested in me that way."

Ataru nodded sagely. If he had experience with anything, it would be dealing with girls who weren't interested. But on second thought, he remembered how close Lina had stuck by Gourry's side last time he had seen them together. She was practically touching him more often than not. In his experience girls didn't tend to do that unless they were at least somewhat interested.

"In my expert opinion, you shouldn't give up on her," Ataru announced in a serious tone.

Gourry looked puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

"Just a hunch," Ataru replied. "I've not observed you two enough to say anything for sure though."

"Well, what makes you such an expert?" Gourry asked nervously. He then noticed the pointed look that Lum was directing at her husband.

"You could say that I have a bit of experience with the ladies," Ataru boasted. "I used to ask out tons of girls."

"And they all turned him down," Lum commented coolly.

"Not all of them," Ataru protested. "The point is," he hastily continued, "I can usually tell if a girl isn't interested."

"But you never let it stop you," she pointed out.

"Do you mind?" Ataru asked, getting annoyed

"Not at all, Darling," Lum replied innocently. "Please continue."

* * *

Lina clenched her fists tight as she stared with narrowed eyes at the scene before her. Her idiot partner was down there chatting it up with not only that annoying lecher, but his damned oni girlfriend as well. She growled softly and sat down in a huff. No matter how long it took, she was not going to get anywhere close to those two. Unfortunately they were just a bit too far away for her to hear anything.

She began getting more and more pissed as the minutes ticked by and Gourry showed no signs of moving on. Lina thought about launching a fireball at him, but she really didn't want to risk them spotting her hiding place atop the nearby inn. It had been enough trouble to scrabble her way up there to avoid being seen in the first place.

At last she saw hope approaching in the form of one of their other party members. Zel wasn't the most talkative person, so maybe he would draw Gourry away so they could get on with their shopping. Lina could only pray that the last member of their party would be as late as she usually was. That girl was chatty enough to make up Zel's silence. Not to mention that her mere presence would make Zel polite enough that he wouldn't try to drag Gourry off.

Luckily the bubbly Amelia was nowhere in sight. Zel approached the three cautiously, his face as gloomy as usual. Lina held back a chuckle. He could usually run people off within minutes without even trying to.

She frowned. As soon as Gourry introduced them, she saw the oni start chatting enthusiastically with Zel. That didn't usually happen. Zel was infamous for being silent and withdrawn, especially around strangers. People didn't usually want to talk to someone who just scowled at them nonstop.

* * *

"I've never met anyone of your race before," Lum told Zel, her curiosity apparent. "What planet are you from?"

"Rezo," Zel answered curtly. He glowered at the archer girl for a moment before deciding that she must be an oni. Not too many humanoid aliens had horns. Plus Gourry had mentioned that he had run into one a few months ago.

"I think I've heard of that," she replied, trying to think. "Yeah, we learned about it back in junior high." She frowned. "Is it near Seyruun?"

"Pretty close," Zel told her, slightly impressed. It was rare that anyone had even heard of his planet, let alone knew where it was.

He glanced impatiently at Gourry, hoping his friend would hurry up and stop talking with the oni's companion about girls. He had to stop himself from grinning as he noticed the guy's username was Darling. Either this Ataru had a weird sense of humor or someone else choose his username.

"So, have you been playing this game a long time?" Lum asked, noticing his level was slightly lower than Gourry's.

"A while," Zel said, not understanding why the girl was insistent on talking to him.

"Darling and I started playing last year, but a lot of stuff came up," she said, looking sad. "We get on every once in awhile, but it's hard to build up levels like that."

"I just play a few times a week," Zel replied. "It's a good way to relax after class."

"Is that so?" Lum asked. "What are you studying?"

Zel noticed uncomfortably that everyone was paying attention to him all of the sudden. "Currently I'm working on a programming degree."

"I took a couple of classes a few years ago, but I'm still a bit of a novice," Lum replied. "Darling and I have been studying a couple of languages on our own though, it sometimes helps in our work."

"We do a lot of odd jobs," Ataru added. "Sometimes we have to work with corrupt diagnostic programs."

Zel nodded. "So you two work together?" he asked hesitantly.

"They're also married," Gourry interjected, looking happy to get a word in. Between Ataru's lecturing on women and Lum's questions, he hadn't been able to say anything for several minutes.

"Oh?" Zel replied, more than a bit surprised. The oni were pretty famous for being extremely xenophobic, but this Darling certainly didn't appear to be of the same race.

"That's right," Lum cheerfully affirmed. She started wondering how many coins a pair of gold rings would cost. It wasn't that she didn't trust Darling, but it would be nice for everyone here to know they were married. Sooner or later, she figured, some crazy girl would go after her handsome Darling.

"Well, we kind of need to get going," Zel said apologetically. "I can't stay on that long, and we've got shopping to do."

Gourry, just now noticing what time it was, frowned. "I don't know where the girls are," he said. "Amelia's always late, but Lina usually isn't.

"Amelia's not late that much," Zel said quietly. "She's just got a lot of stuff to do."

"Zel's got a crush on her," Gourry loudly announced. He earned a scathing glare from his embarrassed party member. "What? Everyone knows you do."

"Is that true, Zel?" a cheery feminine voice asked from directly behind them.

Zel's pale blue cheeks turned a deeper purple shade. He fixed his eyes on the street. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he muttered.

"And this is the infamous Amelia," Gourry announced. "She's our cleric."

The white robed healer bounded past the silent Zel. "Hello!" she greeted them. "Sorry I'm late. I got stuck doing chores and my mom wouldn't let me get on until I finished. I would have been here earlier but I got really hungry and decided I'd better eat first." She gave a clueless look at the two strangers. "Oh, who are these guys?" she asked, looking excited. Not pausing for introductions, she continued. "My name's Amelia, I'm really pleased to meet you!"

Lum and Ataru shared a quick look. The newcomer was definitely a bit of an airhead.

"Hi," Lum said, unconsciously trying to sound less bubbly herself.

"Pleased to meet you," Ataru added.

Amelia looked at the two curiously. "Are you joining our party?"

"Oh, no, we were just talking," Gourry explained hastily. He felt guilty as soon as he said it, but Lina would pitch an epic fit. Remembering her, he realized she would pitch a fit anyways if she found them talking to the oni girl. "We'd better go look for Lina," he said apologetically.

Ataru nodded, getting the hint. "Well, it's been nice seeing you again. Don't forget what I told you."

Gourry smiled. "I won't," he promised. Ataru was a nice guy, and he certainly sounded like he had a lot of experience.

"Don't take anything Darling says too seriously," Lum interjected.

Ataru merely gave her a look in reply.

"It was nice meeting you all," Lum said, waving to the departing trio. Amelia waved back energetically for a few seconds, then turned her attention back to the quiet Zel.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Ataru asked gruffly.

Lum grinned and latched onto his arm again. "Oh, nothing," she said innocently. "They seemed nice."

Ataru nodded. "Yeah, Gourry is a cool guy. That Zel fellow seemed really shy though." He lowered his voice. "Did he have rocks on his face?"

She gave him a look. "I'm sure that's just how his people's skin is," she replied. "You shouldn't make fun of him."

"I'm not," he objected. "I just never saw anything like that before."

"Actually, I haven't either," she admitted. "Rezo and Seyruun are really far away."

"Anyways," Ataru continued, "I'm glad we ran into each other, I've wanted to thank him for a while." He was quiet for a moment as he remembered why he hadn't had the chance. "I'm sorry about how they acted around you last time."

"It's ok," Lum replied honestly. "I mean, it kind of hurt at the time, but I'm sure they have good reason for being nervous around oni. It's not like it's specifically me that they have a problem with."

Ataru nodded. "It was still crappy," he quietly told her. "I don't like anyone treating you that way."

"You're sweet, Darling," Lum murmured, drawing closer to him. "It makes me really happy that you stand up for me."

Ataru looked embarrassed for a second. He should have done that back when the incident occurred, but he'd just been confused at the time.

Finally remembering what they were doing before all this started, he frowned. "I couldn't find out anything about that water dragon shrine," he said irritably.

"Oh, I did!" Lum informed him happily. "We need to go east from here, and then south along the coast. It's on a small island just a little bit out."

"How do you always find out this stuff?" he asked. "I asked a ton of people and didn't get anything useful."

"Just lucky, I guess," she replied. "Before we go anywhere, I want to visit the accessory shop."

"What for?" Ataru asked, well aware they didn't have too much money left.

"Rings," she responded. "I want everyone to know you're taken."

"Yeah, like the girls are all over me," Ataru sardonically replied.

"Is that disappointment I hear?" Lum asked.

"No," Ataru replied honestly. "Let's go see what we can find."

* * *

Gourry looked extremely nervous. Lina had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and she didn't look happy in the least.

"So, making friends with those people?" she snarled. "How nice."

"Where've you been?" he asked, trying to stay cheerful. "We've been looking for you."

Zel and Amelia hung back, not particularly wanting to get involved in whatever squabble Lina was trying to start.

"I've been waiting for you to get away from that horrid creature," she informed him huffily. "Didn't I tell you last time what kind of people those oni are?"

"Lum's really nice," Gourry protested. "You really shouldn't judge her by what might have happened fifty years ago. She wasn't even around back then."

Lina just glared for a moment. "You really think those monsters have changed?"

"It's pretty obvious from the fact that she's married to someone of another race that she's not the kind of person you think she is," Gourry countered.

"That is true," Zel agreed.

"You keep out of this," Lina grumped, ignoring Amelia's glare. "You didn't have your homeworld wiped out by those people."

"First off, your family has lived on Meiroon for centuries," Gourry reminded her. "Secondly, have you even watched the news lately? There's been a civil war going on between the oni and one of their colonies over their old policies."

Lina turned away. "So?"

"So maybe you're being overly judgmental," Gourry told her. He started walking off. "In any case, I'm not going to avoid people just because you don't like them."

"Where do you think you're going?" Lina demanded. She glared at Amelia and Zel as they meekly slipped past her and followed Gourry.

"I'm going shopping," he called back. "If you want to join us, feel free."

She remained standing there for a few more seconds. "Fine," She finally bit out, running to catch up.

* * *

"These are nice," Lum commented, admiring one of the two rings they had just bought.

"And they give us immunity to darkness spells," Ataru observed happily. "Not a bad deal."

"You are such a romantic," Lum muttered.

Ataru looked at her blankly for a moment, then suddenly swept her up off her feet. "Oh, my dearest Lum," he proclaimed dramatically, "now our eternal passion shall never be dampened by the threat of darkness."

She giggled and gave him a kiss. "You don't have to be silly about it, Darling."

"Eh, what's the fun in that?" he asked. Setting her carefully down, he looked at the setting sun. "Looks like it's going to get dark soon," he observed.

"Want to quit for tonight?" Lum asked. "We've got a better chance to find the place during the daytime."

He thought about it for a moment. They had only been playing for a couple of hours, but it wasn't fun trying to find your way through the forest at night. Stronger monsters tended to come out as well.

"Alright, let's go save," Ataru decided, changing course towards the inn. After a moment he casually asked, "What do you want to do after this?"

"Oh, I'm sure we can find some way to amuse ourselves," she whispered teasingly in his ear.

Ataru's pace quickened noticeable as they continued towards the save point.


	4. Early Morning Scare

Lum rolled over lazily and found herself staring into her husband's half awake eyes. "Good morning," she murmured sleepily.

Ataru answered her with a yawn. "Hey there," he muttered, starting to wake up. "Sleep well?"

"Pretty good," she replied. "I don't really feel like getting up though."

"We don't have to," he replied. "I don't think we've got any jobs lined up for today."

"Ten-chan's supposed to be coming over this morning," she regretfully responded. "He's been pretty bored lately."

"We could just pretend we aren't home," Ataru replied, wrapping his arms around her middle.

"He knows the access code," Lum reminded him, starting to pull away. "I'd rather him not walk in on us like this."

Ataru sighed. "Fine," he grumped as he sat up. "I didn't want to spend the day without being charred anyways."

Lum gave him a kiss on the cheek as she got up. "Don't be like that," she chided him. "Ten-chan's a good boy."

"He thinks he is," Ataru replied, admiring Lum appreciatively as she got dressed. "But we both know he's a brat at heart."

"Just a bit," Lum agreed. "But I know he gets lonely when everyone is gone all the time."

He nodded and started getting dressed as well. "Where are his parents off to now?"

"They're somewhere on the other side of the planet," Lum replied. "I'm not sure exactly what they're doing."

"Great parents," he remarked offhand. "If I had a kid, I wouldn't leave him alone like that."

Lum thought for a moment, hiding a slight smile. "What if I told you that you might?"

Ataru looked puzzled, his mind brain still too fuzzy to think. "What?"

"What if I told you that we might have a kid?" she repeated, clasping her hands worriedly and turning away from him.

His eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me," he responded in a panic. "We've been taking precautions, haven't we?"

Lum held back a giggle. "They're not one hundred percent," she replied somberly. She let him worry for a minute longer before taking pity on the poor earthling. She spun back around with a coy smile. "Just kidding," she told him cheerfully.

Ataru scowled. "That wasn't funny."

"Sure it was," she replied. "You should have seen your face."

Ataru stomped out of the room, still looking pissed. She raced after him, hoping he wasn't too mad.

"It was just a joke," she called out as he kept going towards the kitchen.

"It's too early for stuff like that," he muttered irritably.

She managed to catch up to him right as he was about to start digging in the refrigerator. "Poor Darling, did I worry you that much?"

He gave her a glare and started looking for something to eat. "You shouldn't joke about things like that."

"Are you that against ever being a daddy?" Lum asked him, starting to sound worried.

"No," he replied, sounding less irritated. "This just isn't a good time for something like that." He pulled his head back out of the fridge. "We barely make ends meet already."

"That's true," Lum mused as she pushed him gently out of the way. "We really need to look into getting licensed."

"Probably," he agreed, trying to peer around her. "You could probably pass the tests."

"If I could, you could," Lum told him as she rummaged for breakfast. "Stop underestimating yourself."

He frowned. "I don't know," he said uncertainly. "Anyhow, you know those licensing exams are expensive."

"I'm sure Dad would pay if we just asked," she replied. "You know he wouldn't mind." It seemed like they had already had this exact conversation ten times before.

"I know, I know," Ataru said. "But then if I fail, he's out the money and plus everyone finds out what an idiot I am."

Lum paused from retrieving ingredients to lightly whack him on the arm. "You're not an idiot," she scolded him. "I don't want to hear you saying that anymore."

He turned away, obviously unconvinced. "When's Jariten supposed to get here?"

She glanced at the clock. "Any time now, I guess. He wasn't specific."

He sighed dramatically. "What are we supposed to do with him?"

"Same thing we did for the two years he lived with us," Lum replied cheerfully. "You two get on each others nerves, while I try not to get a headache."

Ataru didn't look amused. "Maybe I should just go back to bed," he grouched.

"Where's your sense of humor this morning?" Lum asked him.

He merely grunted and went off to watch TV.

She stared after him for a moment, then got back to preparing breakfast. Darling wasn't really a morning person, but he seemed grumpier than usual today. Maybe she ought to lighten up on the teasing. She knew if he was still in a bad mood by the time Jariten arrived, she might very well end up with a headache.

* * *

"Lum-chan!"

"Hi, Ten-chan," Lum greeted her cousin. "How was your trip over?"

"Slow," he replied. "I think my scooter needs some work."

She looked past him at the duck shaped bike. "Well, I'll take a look at it in a bit," she told him. "We're still having breakfast, have you eaten yet?"

Ten shook his head.

"I figured you hadn't. Come on in and sit down," she told him warmly. "Don't bug Darling though, he's not in a good mood."

Ten quickly settled in at the table and waited for Lum to bring him breakfast. Ataru, busy eating, didn't say hello.

"What have you got to be so grumpy about?" Ten abruptly asked.

Ataru finished chewing and swallowed. "I'm not grumpy," he replied irritably.

"No kidding," Ten told him sarcastically. "You sound so friendly."

"I'm trying to eat, brat," Ataru growled.

Lum, returning with Ten's breakfast, tapped Ataru on the head lightly. "Behave yourself," she commanded him. Ataru glowered but didn't say anything more.

After serving Ten, Lum settled down between the two and resumed her own meal. She thought about starting a conversation, but with Ataru in a foul mood and Ten-chan likely itching to start a fight, she couldn't decide on a safe topic.

Surprisingly enough, it was Ataru who finally broke the silence. "Did I hear that your scooter isn't working right?"

Ten looked at him warily for a moment before replying. "Yeah. It's not accelerating very well lately. And the top speed's down a bit."

"Got any idea what's wrong with it?" Ataru asked grudgingly. The kid didn't have an edge on mechanical knowledge over him anymore, but he was still pretty sharp.

"I'm not sure," Ten replied, surprised that Ataru was asking his opinion. "It could be the actuator."

"Could be," Ataru agreed. "I'll take a look at it in a few minutes."

"Thanks," Ten told him, not sure why he wanted to help.

Lum smiled, glad Darling was being nice, even if he still sounded grumpy. Perhaps he was just interested in working on such a small engine; they didn't often get anything smaller than a car to work on.

The rest of breakfast passed in relative silence. Ataru finished first and went off to scrounge up their tools.

"So, what's eating him?" Ten whispered once he was sure Ataru was out of earshot.

Lum shrugged. "I teased Darling a bit, but it usually doesn't bother him. Maybe he's just tired."

Ten shrugged back and kept eating. "No telling," he replied.

Ataru came back toting one of their battered toolboxes. "I'm going to get some fresh air," he told them in a neutral voice. "Whenever you guys are ready, let me know."

Lum watched with concern as he left. "He's acting weird," she decided after the door shut behind him. "I wonder if he's that worried about the future."

"What about it?" Ten asked between bites.

"We'd get a lot more business if we were licensed mechanics," Lum explained patiently. "But Darling's afraid to take the tests. He always says it's too expensive, or that he doesn't think he can pass." She sighed heavily. "We've both been studying a lot though. I know he can do it."

Ten nodded, though he had less confidence in the earthling than his cousin. "So why don't you just make him do it?"

"And how am I supposed to do that, Ten-chan?" Lum asked curiously. "He rejects the idea every time I bring it up."

"Just tell him that there's no way he could ever pass," Ten replied. "Ataru's so stubborn, I bet he'd try to prove you wrong."

Lum didn't even have to think about it. "That's a really bad idea," she firmly told her cousin. "Darling's got really low self confidence already." She glanced towards the door worriedly. "If I told him something like that he'd believe it even more, and we'd be worse off than ever."

Ten frowned and crossed his arms. "Well, you said before he's too competitive. Why don't you just take the tests first and show him up?"

"That's a better idea," Lum replied thoughtfully. "I would hate to do it without Darling, but if it would get him motivated…." She stared into space for a moment. "I'll think on it a bit," she finally decided.

* * *

Ataru looked up as the door opened behind him. Lum glided out, followed closely by the flailing Ten.

"Took you long enough," Ataru groused, getting to his feet. He picked up the toolbox with a grunt and followed them down the stairs to the parked scooter. Settling down heavily next to it, he started working on the almost hidden bolts that held the exterior casing over the engine.

"He's pretty good," Ten commented as they watched Ataru work on disassembling the scooter.

Lum nodded and stayed quiet, being careful not to hover where she would block Darling's light. He was rather adept with his hands when he was actually concentrating. She tried to keep a careful eye on what went where, knowing that Darling occasionally forgot exactly how things went when he was rushing. Not that she wasn't guilty of the same thing herself.

Ataru was silent as well, still feeling a bit depressed for some reason. He kept thinking back to their conversation earlier that morning and wondering what he would have done if Lum hadn't been joking.

Aside from the more pressing money issue, he just didn't know if he was ready to be a parent yet. Judging by how badly he tended to get along with Jariten, he probably wouldn't make a good father at all. Maybe if the kid were his there wouldn't be so much friction between them, but there was no way to know.

He managed to get the engine fully exposed and started looking for any damaged parts. Of course there were no visible problems; it was seldom that easy. Breaking out a smaller wrench, he started looking for the actuator. On an engine as small as this one it was a good deal harder to spot.

Lum peered over his shoulder, but didn't interrupt. Darling would figure it out in a minute. She had at first been surprised by how fast he had picked engine repair up. It was true that they had studied a lot, but even so he just seemed to have a knack for it. She wondered just how well he would have done in school if he had put his mind to it more often.

Sure enough Darling figured it out and got to work removing the part. Lum handed him one of their diagnostic sensors and watched him carefully hook it up. These things were expensive and they had already broken a couple in the last few months. Just one contact in the wrong place and the sensitive devices tended to overload. It didn't look like he was making any mistakes, so she stayed quiet.

After a few minutes Ataru started disconnecting the sensor. "It's not the actuator," he said quietly. He laid the sensor aside and bolted the part back on. "Lum, got any ideas?"

She shook her head. "Nuh uh. What do you think it is?" she asked him. Darling was always so uncertain of his own ideas, it would do him good to figure this out without her input.

He turned his attention back to the engine, but didn't say anything. After a while he started busily disassembling the rear section of the scooter. Ten and Lum looked on curiously as he worked to take apart the thruster mechanism.

At last Ataru looked up at them. "Looks like this discharge chamber's pretty eroded," he told Ten. "Just how much did you use this thing?"

Ten frowned. "Mama bought it used," he said. "I don't know how old it is."

"Well, you definitely need a new one," Ataru told him seriously. "You don't want this thing to rupture."

Ten looked glum. "Yeah," he agreed. "I wonder if my dad will give me an advance on my allowance."

Ataru got up and patted himself off. "Why don't we go see what we can get secondhand," he suggested. "I know a pretty cheap parts dealer."

"Cheap doesn't matter, I haven't got any money," Ten protested.

"We've got enough to cover it for now," Ataru told him. "As long as you can pay us back within the next couple weeks." He looked at Lum. "Is that ok with you?"

Lum thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, we'll be ok, it shouldn't be that much."

Ten looked bashfully at Ataru. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I really appreciate it."

Ataru nodded. "It's not a big deal," he told his cousin-in-law. "That's your only way to get around now, isn't it?"

Ten nodded. His tiny spaceship was somewhere back on Uru, left behind when they had fled the planet months ago. With less work his parents weren't able to buy him such extravagant gifts anymore.

Ataru started gathering up the pieces of the scooter, careful not to lose anything.

"Lum-chan, why's Ataru being so nice?" Ten whispered.

"Darling's always nice," Lum whispered back. She noticed Ten's skeptical expression. "Don't give me that look."

Ataru glanced up. "What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing, Darling," Lum replied innocently. "Do you need some help?"

"Nah, I got it," he told her, bundling the pile of parts in his arms. "If you could just get the toolbox."

She grinned and hefted the box up. Luckily he hadn't brought out one of the heavier ones. "We'll have to take the UFO," she explained to Ten. "This part dealer's pretty far away."

"You should get a car," Ten remarked as he followed them indoors. "Or at least an airbike."

"I know," Lum replied wistfully. "They're way too expensive right now though."

Most of the vehicles on Oniboshi had been imported from Uru prior to the war, so even secondhand ones were costly. The government was still working on making trade deals with Fukujin to import vehicles, but it would still be awhile before the market returned to normal. She considered them lucky to have gotten their UFO before things had gone sour.

* * *

Several hours had passed by the time they had returned to their usual landing spot. Lum was pleased to see that this time she hadn't knocked their stairs over, though they would have to be moved a tiny bit closer to the door.

Ten gazed out one of the windows at the late afternoon sky. "Why do you two still live way out here?" he asked after a few minutes.

Lum looked over at him. "What do you mean?" she asked. "We're close to the spaceport."

"They're still rebuilding the place," Ten commented, pointing towards the half-erected structure in the distance. "Plus there's no town there anymore."

"They'll come back eventually," Ataru answered idly, still working on reassembling the scooter. "Anyways, the few customers we do get know where to find us out here."

"Plus we've got a great view," Lum added, joining Ten at the window. "Look at how pretty it is out there."

"I miss living in the city," Ten admitted. "Even back on Earth things were pretty lively."

Lum nodded. She had grown up without many close neighbors, but it had been nice living in a real town for a while. Though the neighbors had tended to complain about the noise a lot. She glanced over at Darling; he had been the source of most of the complaints. Still, she had been the one electrocuting him at the time.

"Darling," she called out, "Do you miss living in Tomobiki?"

"A bit," Ataru admitted. "I miss the people more though."

Ten looked thoughtful. "Are you going to move back to Earth if it's safe again?"

Lum patted her cousin on the head. "I don't know," she replied. "That's something we'd have to decide together."

"I don't think Dad would want to move back," Ataru mused. "He's got a better job here, there's really not much left for him on Earth."

"What about you, Darling?" Lum asked him. "You know that I'd be happy wherever."

"Honestly, I don't know," Ataru told her. "Here at least we can make a living." He looked down at the floor. "We didn't even get to graduate high school; no one would hire us back there."

Lum nodded. "I suppose," she somberly agreed. "Anyways, we aren't likely to have a choice anytime soon."

Ten looked relieved at their answer. He had liked Earth, but it was nice being able to see Lum whenever he wanted.

"Alright, I think that'll do it," Ataru announced, tightening the last bolt. "Your scooter should be as good as new."

Ten scurried over. "Thank you," he cooed, hugging his primary means of transport.

"Hey, Jariten, it's getting pretty late," Ataru told him gruffly, looking towards the window. "Why don't you see if you can just stay the night?"

Lum's eyebrows shot up. Even though he had barely said anything all day, Darling was being way nicer than usual. Without a single complaint he had used up most of the day working on Ten's scooter and looking for the part they had needed in the dealer's junkyard. And now he was actually offering to let Ten stay longer?

Ten nodded eagerly. His aunt would be home by now, but as long as he let her know, she wouldn't mind him staying. He waddled towards the communications console to give her a call.

Ataru stretched and stood up slowly, his legs feeling cramped. "I'm taking a shower," he abruptly announced, heading for the bedroom.

Lum chased after him, cornering him as he started picking out some clean clothes. "What's up with you today?" she asked him quietly.

He looked blankly at her for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting weird ever since this morning," she insisted. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad," Ataru replied. "Just feeling kind of out of it."

"What's wrong, Darling?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said, sitting down heavily on the side of the bed. "I've just been thinking about a lot of stuff today."

She sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Spill it."

He was silent for a few minutes. "We got married pretty young," he finally stated.

Lum frowned. "Are you regretting it now?" she asked hesitantly.

Ataru shook his head vehemently. "Not for a second," he denied. "That's not what I meant at all." He fell silent again. "It's just a lot all at once, you know?"

Lum gave him a curious look, but stayed quiet until he was ready to continue.

"There's just so much to worry about now, you know?" he gushed. "I mean, a year ago my biggest problem was a few tests. Now we're out of school and we can barely even support ourselves."

He paused for a second. "I guess when you were joking around this morning it just got me thinking about what would happen if we did have a kid. For that minute when I thought you were serious, I just didn't know what to do."

"I agree that we aren't ready for something like that," Lum replied. "But if it did happen, we would just have to deal with it," she told him confidently. "You never give yourself enough credit, Darling."

He sighed. "I don't know. I used to think we wouldn't have to worry about any of this stuff until after college. Now we're not even thinking about getting a degree anymore, just settling for a mechanic's license."

"Plans change," Lum told him bluntly as she rested her head against his shoulder. "But I know it's my fault that you aren't getting ready to go to a university. I really am sorry, Darling."

"It's not your fault," he told her firmly. "Besides, if it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have ever studied in the first place."

She giggled. "That's true," she admitted. "But I want you to know, I'm really proud of you, Darling. You're a lot smarter than you think."

Darling didn't reply, so she nudged him. "Stop worrying so much. And try to remember that you're not alone in this. I am your wife, aren't I?"

Ataru nodded slightly.

"And there's other people who'll help you if you'll just let them," Lum reminded him.

"I know," he sighed as he got back to his feet. He turned to her and held out his hand. "Thanks for listening, Lum. I know I sound like a whiney kid."

"Go take your shower," she told him, taking his hand. "You'll feel better. I'll go start getting dinner ready, and we can have a nice relaxing evening."

Ataru smiled and went back to gathering a change of clothes. Lum was right; he did tend to worry too much. Maybe it would be a good idea to just stop putting so much pressure on his own shoulders.

* * *

Lum had dinner just about ready when Darling returned from his shower. "Feeling better now?" she asked him.

"A bit," Ataru admitted. "At least I'm not sweaty anymore."

She smiled as she continued to work. "Why don't you go keep Ten-chan company?"

"You don't need any help?" he asked tentatively. More and more of late he tended to at least keep her company in the kitchen.

"I'm fine," she told him warmly. "Go," she insisted, shooing him away.

Ataru left her alone and sought out the oni boy, finding him on the couch. "Hey, brat, what are you up to?"

Ten glared at him for a moment, but decided to stay friendly. After all, the idiot had taken the time and money to help him today. "Trying to watch TV," he replied. "But there's nothing good on."

"That's how it usually is," Ataru agreed, setting down on the other end of the couch. "I barely watch it anymore." Truthfully, both oni comedy and drama shows felt a bit off to him. About the only thing he could really stomach was the news.

"What do you two do around here?" Ten asked curiously. Back on Earth they didn't stay around the house much. With so many acquaintances it seemed like there was always something going on.

Ataru shrugged. "We find ways to amuse ourselves."

Ten grimaced. "I'm just a kid," he reminded Ataru. "You shouldn't imply things like that around me."

"Your mind is just in the gutter," Ataru rejoined. "I wasn't implying anything like what you're thinking."

"So what do you do?" Ten asked hesitantly.

"We play games a lot," Ataru continued. "That _Runic Wars_ one mostly. And we go for walks sometimes." He paused for a moment. "We spend a lot of time between jobs just studying though."

"Sounds boring," Ten noted.

"Yeah, at times," Ataru agreed. "I can't keep on being an idiot forever though."

Ten looked up, surprised by the sudden sadness in Ataru's voice. "Lum-chan says you're not an idiot," he replied quietly."

"I know she does," Ataru said. "But it's not like she'd say otherwise."

"Lum-chan wouldn't lie," Ten insisted. "If she didn't think so, she just wouldn't say it."

Ataru thought back to the few times when Lum had lied to him. To be fair those incidents had been desperate attempts to get him to pay more attention to her. Still she called him handsome as well, and judging from popular opinion that wasn't true either.

"We'll see, I guess," Ataru finally replied.

Ten gave him a quizzical look, but he didn't continue.

* * *

After a rather quiet dinner Lum tucked Ten in on the couch and retired to their bedroom. Darling was already there, lying on the bed and idly reading through some technical manual.

"Studying?" she asked him, settling down by his side.

Ataru glanced up. "Yeah, I've been slacking off the last couple days."

"I don't know if I'd call it slacking off," she protested. "You did spend today working."

"I suppose," he replied. After a moment he spoke up again. "Hey, Lum?"

She looked at him expectantly. "What is it, Darling?"

"Would you mind asking your father if he'd loan me the money to take that licensing exam?"

She gave him a surprised look. "This morning you were set against it," she reminded him.

"I can't keep avoiding it forever," he explained. "We aren't ever going to get anywhere if I'm too scared to even try."

"That's really mature of you," she replied. "I'll ask Dad tomorrow if he'll lend us the money."

"Make sure he knows I'll pay it back," Ataru added.

"I will," she promised. She knew her father likely wouldn't want the money back, but it was a matter of pride to Darling.

He kept reading for a few more minutes. "Lum?"

"Yes, Darling?"

"I love you," he told her. "I probably don't say that enough."

"I love you too," she replied. "You're such a sweetheart."

Ataru blushed. "I guess I should keep reading," he said regretfully, turning his attention back to his book.

"I won't bother you," Lum promised, snuggling close to his side. "Just wake me up if I fall asleep."

"Why? We're already in bed," he asked.

"Because after you get done studying I want to spend some alone time with you," she teased him.

"I see," he muttered. Keeping his mind on his studies wasn't going to be easy tonight.


	5. Subspace Conspiracy

Invader leaned back and patted his full belly. "That was good," he complimented. "Now, what's for dessert?"

His wife looked at him patiently. "_No dessert_," she told him. Ignoring his pout, she poked his middle sharply. "_You need to stop eating so much, dear._"

He frowned. "I'm in great shape," he declared.

"_In your dreams_," she retorted.

Invader sighed and turned his attention towards the floor. No matter what he said, she wasn't going to budge. Even if this was the first time he'd been back home in several weeks.

She sat down next to him. "_Oh, don't give me that look_," she commanded. "_I know you've been eating well up there_."

"I eat normal rations, just like everyone else," Invader protested.

"_And just how many of those normal rations do you eat_?" she asked skeptically.

"Who blabbed?" he demanded. Someone was going to get chewed out when he returned.

"_I'm not revealing my informants_," she told him. "_Just remember, I'll be keeping close tabs on your eating habits_."

Invader decided to change the subject. There would be plenty of time to track down her snitch when he returned to duty. "Have you heard from Lum today?"

"_No_, n_ot today_," she answered. "_Yesterday she called to let me know the results of their exams though_."

He perked up. "You should have let me know. How did they do?"

"_Both passed_," she confirmed proudly.

Invader beamed. Being a mechanic wasn't exactly the future he'd imagined for his little princess, but she enjoyed the work, not to mention being able to work alongside her husband. And his son-in-law seemed to have a knack for it as well. It was a respectable enough profession.

"Someone should have called me," he complained good-naturedly. "I did pay for it, after all."

"_We didn't want to bother you_," she told him. "_I know you're always extra busy right before you take time off_."

"We should have went out and celebrated," he commented sadly. "I don't get to see my little girl that often."

"_I wanted to wait until my sister's family could come_," his wife explained. "_They're supposed to be back tomorrow_."

"I suppose they took Ten-chan with them?" Invader asked.

"_Yeah, for once_," she commented. She really didn't mind taking care of her nephew, but Tsuukai really needed to spend more time with her son. The two were often traveling around the planet taking care of fires and other disasters, and poor Ten-chan rarely went with them.

"They'd better be back then," he said. "Day after tomorrow I've got to get back to work."

"_So soon_?" she asked, clearly disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so, Invader confirmed. "We're still in negotiations with Fukujin."

"_That's too bad_," she said sadly. "_I miss the days when you didn't have to be gone so much_."

He nodded. "Hopefully things will stay calm and I can come down more often," he told her.

She nodded. "_I hope so_."

* * *

"Still no further data on the incoming ship?" Lt. Commander Jirettai asked.

"Nothing." The communications officer confirmed.

He sighed. It figured that as soon as Invader took off something would come up. A small ship had been spotted emerging from subspace a half-hour earlier, and it appeared to be heading directly for planet Oniboshi. It was clearly an oni civilian ship, but if anyone was on board they were refusing to answer hails from any of the patrol ships.

"Well, we can't let it get any closer to the planet," Jirettai decided. Uru had been quiet lately, but the plague on Zephil had weighed heavily on the Oniboshians' minds ever since the war had begun. He wasn't about to let a possible biological attack happen this easily.

"We should just blast it," the gunnery officer suggested. "One shot'll do it."

"We're not shooting it. There could be innocent civilians on board," Jirettai firmly reminded them. "They said the ship looked damaged, so communications might just be out." He looked out the window. "We'll just have to capture it before it reaches orbit." He turned to the medical officer. "Seal off a section of one of the ship bays and get together some bio suits, I don't want any chances of infection."

The officer nodded and ran off to get everything ready. Jirettai wondered if this might be a mistake, but there really wasn't much else they could do. At least up here any possible contamination could be taken care of rather quickly. He hoped that he was just being overly cautious, but it wouldn't hurt to take extra care when dealing with these people.

Turning to the helm, he ordered for the _Doji_ to be taken out of orbit and set on an intercept course with the incoming ship. Hopefully this would all turn out to be nothing and he wouldn't get yelled at for not alerting Invader first. The boss hadn't had a break in a while, and he really hated to bother the big guy for something that was probably nothing.

The tiny ship came in slow, giving Jirettai plenty of time to look it over as they moved to intercept. It was an ovoid shaped vessel, the tiger-striped deco making its origins clear. Apparently it hadn't had an uneventful trip. Scorch marks raked an entire side of the ship, a sign that it had likely been fired upon by some fairly heavy weaponry.

The tractor beams soon engaged, pulling the ship smoothly into the small bay that had been prepared for its arrival. A hazard suited team consisting of both medical personnel and soldiers were quickly ushered through the airlock.

Jirettai soon began getting reports from the team. No pathogens had been detected, and the ship's two occupants appeared to be fine. They were currently running tests on the pair to make sure they weren't infected with anything either. It did appear the ship was unable to communicate, explaining why they hadn't answered earlier.

* * *

The two were cleared from quarantine within the hour. The Lt. Commander himself came down to meet them as they emerged from the airlock, still escorted by soldiers.

Jirettai raised an eyebrow as he noticed that one of the pair was a young girl, likely no older than two or three years old. The other, a middle aged looking man, was frowning heavily.

"I say," the man commented, "was all of this really necessary?"

Jirettai bowed slightly. "I do apologize, sir," he began, "but in these times we have to be careful." He looked at the indignant oni for a moment. "We don't exactly get many visitors lately. May I ask who you are, and what your business on Oniboshi is?"

"I am Professor Deki Seiren, and this is Miyu, my granddaughter," the man began irritably. "I need to speak to whoever is in charge around here."

"That would be me," Jirettai replied uneasily. "What can I help you with?"

The professor sized him up for a moment. "Oh, it isn't what you can help me with, sonny. No, it's more like what I know that can help you." He paused a long moment for dramatic affect. "I have risked both my own life and that of my beloved granddaughter, just to blow the lid on what the Urusein government is planning for that little planet you call Earth."

"Is that right?" Jirettai hesitantly replied. This guy sounded like he might be a little bit off his rocker. "Did you just come from Uru?"

"That I did," Seiren replied. "Although I must confess that while Oniboshi has always been my true home, I've been forced to dwell on Uru for the last decade and a half because this backward planet still doesn't offer any opportunities worthy of someone of my considerable intellectual caliber. Regardless, I simply couldn't abide those dreadful people any longer, so here we are."

"Uh huh," the Lt. Commander replied. "So, are you here to seek political asylum in exchange for information then?"

"I just told you, Oniboshi is my home," the professor interjected. "I hardly think one would need to seek asylum when they return home."

"You're right, of course," Jirettai agreed, not wanting to agitate the fellow any more. They could check out his story easily enough. "So you say that you know what Uru is planning?"

"Now I don't know any of the messy details, like when they're going to attempt an invasion or anything petty like that," Seiren told him. "But I can tell you why they are so interested in that planet. It's quite the secret, you know."

"So we've gathered," Jirettai replied dryly. They had put quite a bit of effort into learning that secret before losing contact with their remaining agents on Uru. "So, what is it?"

The professor looked at him dismissively. "I rather doubt you could comprehend the full explanation, but to put it simply, the High Council seeks to gain control of subspace."

The Lt. Commander looked confused. "What? How would that even be possible? And what's Earth got to do with it?"

"The planet Earth happens to occupy a weak spot in the boundary between normal space and subspace," Seiren explained, going into his lecturing mode. "You might could picture it as a nexus of sorts, although that really fails to capture the true essence of the situation. In any case it has been theorized that that very weakness could be exploited in order to control the currents of subspace, possibly across this entire sector of space."

Jirettai's confusion was only deepened. "And what does that mean exactly?"

Professor Seiren sighed. "It means they could conceivably control what comes in and goes out of subspace. Travel between planetary systems would be entirely under their dominion.

"Is that really possible?" Jirettai asked skeptically. This sounded way too much like bad science fiction.

"Oh, it's quite possible," Seiren confirmed. "I was one of the senior researchers on the project up until yesterday. They haven't really trusted me lately, on account of being from Oniboshi you know, but with my expertise they really couldn't afford to let me go either."

"So why are you just now coming to tell us this?"

"I've been planning to escape them for months now, you see," the professor explained, lifting his quiet granddaughter up in his arms. "The trouble has always been this little one. My daughter passed away a couple of years ago, and I simply couldn't bear to leave my dear little Miyu there all alone. I'm the only relation she has left." He paused for a moment to fondly pat her on the head. "They kept a close eye on us, but with the help of some friends we were finally able to secure a vessel and escape from the government's clutches."

"It appears they noticed your departure," Jirettai noted, nodding towards the scarred ship behind them.

"Alas, they did," Seiren agreed. "It was a might hairy for a bit, but in the end we managed to give those rapscallions the slip."

"I see." Jirettai figured he needed to get busy relaying this news to his superiors. "I'll have my men escort you two to a nice room," he said. "I need to go check all of this out."

"Yes, yes, by all means do that," the professor agreed. "Although I doubt you'll find many experts in subspace mechanics here, if Dr. Eigo is still around he should be able to verify my findings. But for the moment we could both use some sleep right now. It's been a rather long day and Miyu tends to get cranky without her rest."

The little girl gave Jirettai a shy smile. She certainly didn't seem cranky, but he would take her grandfather's word for it. "If you'll excuse me, then," he said, bowing politely.

* * *

The console beeped urgently, eventually waking Invader from a sound sleep. Carefully rising so that he didn't disturb his wife, he made his way out to viewscreen and answered the call.

"Jirettai, this had better be important," he grumped. "I don't get to sleep in much anymore."

His second in command looked anxious. "Sorry to disturb you so early, boss, but we've got important news. I thought you would want to be in the loop as soon as possible."

"Well, what is it?" Invader growled.

"We had this guy come in from Uru during the night. He's some big expert in subspace mechanics that lived here a few years back. Says that Uru's got some crazy plan to control subspace travel, and that's why they're so interested in Earth."

Invader didn't look amused. "What?"

"Sounds crazy, I know, but everything seems to check out. We've got some of the science guys talking with him now."

"So you've checked this guy out real well? Made sure he's not some kind of spy or anything like that?"

Jirettai nodded. "Yeah, he's apparently well known in academic circles. And we confirmed that he's originally from Oniboshi, just moved away about 15 years ago."

"What's this guy's name?" Invader asked.

"Deki Seiren," Jirettai answered promptly.

"Professor Seiren?" Invader asked curiously. "I remember that guy. High Command used to bring him in on consulting jobs once in a while." He thought for a moment. "Get him planet side as soon as you can. I want to talk to him myself."

"Alright, boss." Jirettai answered. He was about to close the connection. "Should we still expect you back tomorrow?"

Invader thought for a moment. This could be a good excuse to prolong his time off. "We'll see," he said as somberly as he could. "I might be tied up in meetings over this. I'll let you know as soon as I can."

He flipped off the connection himself, feeling rather pleased. One of the mysteries bothering him for years was about to be solved, and to top it off he might just be able to wrangle another day or two of relaxation. Even if he was stuck in meetings, it would still be a welcome break from the tedium up in orbit.

The warlord was about halfway back to bed when the worrying started. Controlling subspace sounded ridiculous, but that Seiren was supposed to be pretty on the ball. If Uru could manage such a thing, they would have the upper hand over every other planet out there. Militarily and commercially they would have total domination.

Luckily Uru still appeared to be rebuilding their forces from that disastrous battle a few months back. Although there were reportedly a few patrols buzzing around Earth's system, it didn't look like any Urusein forces were attempting an occupation. It appeared that whatever plan they were plotting, they weren't willing to risk their own defenses over it.

He smiled as he lay back down. There was another huge plus to this. Getting support from other planets, even Uru's sworn enemies, had thus far been impossible. Most of those who hated Uru distrusted Oni in general and didn't want to be mixed up in their civil war. But if he could prove that everyone was in danger, there was a good chance he could finally sway others to his side.

"_What's going on_?" his wife asked sleepily, his stealthy movements waking her up.

"Just work calling," Invader said with a yawn. "I'll handle it in a few hours."

"_That's nice_," she murmured, falling back to sleep.

* * *

"Professor Seiren?"

The scientist studied the huge Oni before him for a moment. "And you would be High Warlord Invader? You looked a great deal...different than last time we met."

"That's right," the warlord replied amiably, holding out his hand.

The professor shook his hand briefly.

"My what a cute kid you have there." Invader peered close at the child in the professor's arms. "What's your name, little girl?"

She stared blankly at him and didn't reply.

"_He's asking what your name is_," her grandfather translated in oni.

I'm afraid she doesn't know how to speak in Galactic Standard yet," her grandfather hurriedly explained. "I would have taught her myself, but there just hasn't been enough time."

"_My name is Miyu_," the girl announced meekly.

Invader smiled. "_I've got a nephew just a couple years older than you, Miyu. Maybe you two can play sometime_."

She gave him a shy smile in return and nodded eagerly.

"I'm afraid Miyu hasn't been allowed to play with other children much," her grandfather said regretfully. "We've both been kept away from the public eye for the past few years."

"I see," Invader responded. He looked around the room, quickly spotting his wife chatting amongst the assorted scientists he had invited to their meeting. He waved to her and she flew swiftly to his side.

"_This is my wife, Kinuko_," he introduced her.

Mrs. Invader smiled and nodded her head in greeting. "_Pleased to meet you_," she said to both of them.

"_Charmed, I'm sure_," the professor greeted her.

Miyu perked up, curious to see a woman.

"My wife understands galactic standard just fine," Invader explained with an embarrassed look. "But she prefers to speak in oni. It's just one of her many quirks."

Kinuko glared at her husband. "_Have you got a problem with that_, _husband_?"

"No, no," he backpedaled. "_Anyways, perhaps you could play with little Miyu here while we discuss business_?"

"_I'd be delighted to_," she agreed cheerfully."

The professor reluctantly handed her over. "_Be a good girl, Miyu, and don't get into any trouble_."

She nodded and waved as Mrs. Invader carried her away.

"Poor girl," her grandfather remarked as he watched them go. "I've spent as much time as I was allowed to with her, but she's mostly been kept under guard and away from people. They knew I wouldn't try anything with her in danger, you see. That's how they make sure there's no leaks or defections."

"Is that right?" Invader replied regretfully. "I really had no idea any of this was going on."

"The high council keeps the project secret from the military," Seiren explained. "We reported directly to them at all times."

"I imagine something like this would need to be kept under wraps," Invader said. "Well, if you don't mind, let's get right down to business. I want as many details on this project as you can give me, and please try to keep it simple. I'm not exactly a whiz at this stuff, but I'll do my best."

The professor smiled. Invader's father had still been a high warlord when he had left Oniboshi, but it seemed like his son was just as much of a straight shooter.

"As you might know, what we commonly call subspace is a dimension adjacent to our own," Seiren began. "However while regular space and time define our normal dimension, the same cannot be said for subspace. It is not a physical dimension as we would understand it, you see, but more of a series of energy waves partially overlapping our own dimension." He paused to catch his breath. "Do you follow so far?"

Invader nodded. He didn't really understand how it all worked, but this basic stuff was covered in junior high school physics classes.

"Normally all we can manage with our current technology is to force temporary tears from one dimension to the other. Once a ship, to use a popular example, slips into subspace, it then plots a course that will bring it to a point where exiting subspace will deliver the ship to the intended destination in normal space. Since subspace is not exactly defined by the same laws of time and space as our own, vast distances may therefore be traversed in a mere fraction of the time it would take in normal space."

The warlord kept nodding as the professor's explanation of subspace droned on. "That's all good and fine, but could you just explain the actual project?" he finally interrupted.

The professor sighed. "I was getting to that, no need to be so impatient." It wasn't as if he expected the average person to fully understand most of the finer details anyhow. "About five years ago it was discovered that the boundaries between normal space and subspace were exceptionally thin at one particular location. We're not sure why that is, but it appears that there is a permanent distortion of sorts in the very fabric of normal space."

"And that spot's Earth?" Invader guessed.

"Absolutely correct," Seiren replied. "To be specific, the distortion is most localized in the very area of Earth where your daughter resided up until recently."

"That's quite the coincidence," Invader growled.

"Oh, not at all, when you think about it," the professor continued. "The tag champion from Earth was indeed picked randomly, but only from the residents of that particular area. The high council needed an inconspicuous reason to have ships in that location in order to start collecting close range data on the distortion."

Invader furrowed his brow. So he was playing the unwitting puppet to the High Council even then. "And I suppose they really didn't expect my Lum to lose to a guy who can't even fly, is that right?"

"That was quite the unexpected defeat," the professor acknowledged. "The project's coordinators were forced to order all of the research ships back after the match to make sure no one else would notice how interested they were in that area."

The warlord suddenly guffawed. His son-in-law's little trick to win the tag game had even more long reaching effects than he could have ever imagined. "Sorry," he hastily apologized. "Please continue."

The miffed professor straightened his collar. "Yes, well, they still managed to retrieve enough data that the mission was not a total loss."

He looked a bit guilty, but continued. "Studying the data, we figured out that it would be possible to somewhat control the energy waves in subspace by building a series of installations around that region of Earth. By introducing controlled interference at that point, they would be able to cause enough of a change in the waves that ships would be completely unable to plot a reliable course through subspace, and therefore they could not control the normal space location of the exit point."

"So they would make subspace travel pretty well impossible, is that it?" Invader growled. "Wouldn't that make it useless to them as well?"

"Theoretically by knowing the frequency of the interference, they would be able to shield their own ships from the effects," the professor explained. "They were working on the final details of fitting the military fleet with the appropriate compensation devices when I fled."

Invader scratched his head. "What's the chances of anyone else being able to figure out this frequency themselves?" he asked. "Or just capturing a Urusein ship and copying this compensation device?"

"Highly unlikely, to answer your first question," Professor Seiren replied. "The frequency would be a time reliant and constantly changing signal. And since the only place to test it would be in subspace, anyone who failed to mimic it precisely would be unlikely to ever emerge in known space. As for the second question, that would be possible, but unlikely to work for long. It would be too easy to make minor adjustments to the rest of the fleet in order to keep ahead of any stolen copies."

"So I guess our only real option is to keep them away from Earth at any cost then," Invader stated resignedly. "Ok, I'm satisfied with that explanation."

He suddenly reached out and shook the professor's hand vigorously. "I want to thank you for risking everything to tell us. Now there are a lot of guys here who I know are chomping at the bit to hear all of your theories in detail, but I need to get back to my own work. I've left instructions for you and your granddaughter to be well taken care of."

The professor bowed politely. The High Warlord seemed to be a really nice man, if a bit intense. "Thank you for your time," he managed to get out. "It's been a long time since anyone showed me even a shred of respect or gratitude back on Uru."

"We might not be the most advanced planet," Invader said heartily as he turned away, "but I'm sure you remember that we are a friendly bunch."

The professor smiled and turned his attention to the throng of young minds eagerly waiting to puzzle through the technical details of his work. Maybe this wasn't the prestigious position he had left to find all those years ago, but these were his kind of people, and he wouldn't forget that again.


	6. A Fancy Dinner

"My parents are here," Lum announced, looking out the window. "Darling, are you ready yet?"

"Just about," Ataru replied from the other room. He came into the room still struggling to get his necktie straightened out. "I hate these things."

Lum glanced at him, wondering why it always seemed to take him longer to get ready than her. "Here, let me help you," she told him as she started untying his sloppy knot. "You're kind of hopeless, Darling. You know that, right?"

"It's not like I wear these stupid things much," he retorted. "Seems awfully dressy for just a dinner anyways."

"My parents just want to treat us for passing the exams," Lum replied patiently. "And it doesn't hurt you to dress up once in awhile. We never go anywhere fancy."

"Who can afford to?" Ataru replied. He looked past her and out the window. "Hurry up, your father's getting out of the car."

"Thank you for fixing my necktie, Lum," she muttered irritably as she kept working on it. "You're such a wonderful wife."

Ataru sighed. "Thank you Lum, you're such a wonderful wife. Now either tie it already or let me try again."

"That didn't sound very sincere, Darling," she warned. "I don't think you appreciate all that I do for you."

"You know that's not true," he replied quietly. "I appreciate everything you do."

"Then have some patience," she growled. "I've almost got it." She finally managed to get it tied. "There. How's that?"

"Better," he admitted. "Do I look ok?"

"You look great, Darling," she responded, stepping back a bit. Twirling around in midair, she grinned. "Am I presentable?"

"I suppose," he replied doubtfully, taking in the stunning ankle length dress she had chosen to wear. In truth it was taking all of his willpower not to drool over her appearance. He hadn't seen her this dressed up since their wedding day.

"You're terrible," she replied as she headed for the door. "Be good tonight, this place is really nice. She flashed him a smile. "I'm kind of excited, I haven't been there in years."

"Yes, yes, I know," he replied as he followed after her at a more leisurely pace.

She rolled her eyes and threw open the door right as her father was about to bang on it.

"Lum!" Invader exclaimed happily. "It's good to see you."

"Hi, Dad," she greeted him. "I've missed you too."

"Hello," Ataru spoke up from behind her, his hand raised in greeting.

"Hey, Son-in-law," Invader responded cheerfully. "How is married life treating you?"

"Pretty good," Ataru replied casually. "All things considered."

"Good to hear," Invader replied as he turned back towards the car. "Now hurry up you too, I'm hungry."

* * *

Ataru looked around the restaurant in awe. This was easily the most fancy joint he'd ever eaten at. Even in his dress shirt and tie he felt a bit underdressed. Well, he might would feel that way if Invader wasn't wearing his usual tiger striped jumpsuit. Since it was apparently a military uniform, Ataru figured that here it must count as a dress uniform as well.

"Ataru, stop gawking around like a country bumpkin," his mother quietly scolded him from her nearby seat.

"Tell it to dad," he retorted just as quietly.

She turned to her husband and saw him acting no better than their son. "Really dear, try to act your age," she admonished him.

"Stare away, this is the fanciest restaurant on Oniboshi," Invader boasted loudly. "It's not really my kind of place, but your mother insisted we go all out.

"_Lower your voice_," his wife hissed. "_And_ a_t least try to act like you have some manners_."

"Oh, don't be so uptight, sis," Tsuukai commented. She lightly patted Ten on the head. "At least you're being a really good boy."

Ten just nodded and stayed quiet. He'd never been anywhere this expensive looking either, but he certainly wasn't going to give in to the temptation to gawk.

Lum shared an embarrassed glance with her mother. With her father's status, they had both been here a few times before, but it was a rare event. As always a good portion of the other patrons were keeping an interested eye on the High Warlord and his party. Her father never minded his manners too well, but usually her mother was able to keep him quiet. Luckily Lum knew Darling had good manners. At least he would once he got over how opulent the place was.

She remembered her first date with Darling and had to stifle a giggle. He'd thought at the time that she didn't know how to act at a fancy restaurant, but she really hadn't realized it even qualified as fancy to him. But still being unaccustomed to Earth, she had embarrassed Darling regardless by copying that date of Perm's horrid dining habits.

A waiter quickly approached their table and waited patiently while the group tried to decide what to order.

Ataru stared at his menu for a second or two. There were no pictures and to make it worse the words were in Oni. He discreetly nudged his wife and whispered irritably, "I can't read this." He noticed his parents looking just as lost.

Lum looked at the long menu glumly, having forgotten that the Moroboshis wouldn't be able to understand it. "I doubt they've got anything in Japanese." She quickly scanned through the list of entrees. "Do you want me to describe everything?" she asked him.

"Just pick out something you think I'd like," he replied. It would take forever for her to describe everything by comparison to earth dishes. Besides at this point Lum probably knew what he liked better than anyone did. "Mom, Dad, do you want Lum to order for you as well?"

"Sure," his father replied. His mother just mutely nodded in embarrassment.

Lum thought for a few moments, then rattled off a few sentences in Oni to the waiter.

"Little weird to run into places that aren't bilingual," Ataru noted.

"It's like that closer to the spaceport and in most of the capital," Lum explained. "But there's lots of places like this in the area that only speak oni." She smiled. "At least we're not in one of those areas that don't speak anything but Nikusuin."

"That's true," he mused. Suspicion suddenly struck him. "You told them not to make whatever not spicy, right?"

"I did," she promised. "I told them to not add any spices at all."

"Good," he replied.

Invader winked at his wife. "Look how well those two get along," he remarked quietly. "Seems like it wasn't that long ago they couldn't go five seconds without arguing."

"_Don't embarrass them_," was her only reply.

The warlord sighed. "I really need to come home more often," he said sadly. "It seems like stuff just keeps coming up though."

"Tell us about that professor guy," Tsuukai requested. "Sis said you had a meeting with him this morning.

"Yeah, we did," Invader confirmed. He glanced around for a moment, wondering how much he should say. The details of their meeting hadn't been made public yet for good reason. He didn't particularly want any other planets getting big ideas and going after Earth themselves.

"How about some details," Tsuukai pressed on. "Did he say how things were on Uru?"

"No, not really," the warlord replied. "He was apparently kept under close guard, so he didn't know much about what was going on outside of his area."

Lum perked up. "Who are you talking about?" she asked.

"This scientist escaped Uru and arrived here last night," Invader explained. "He had some interesting news, but I really don't want to talk about that here."

She gave her father a curious look but didn't press the issue. He'd likely tell her later if he could.

* * *

Their food soon arrived. Atarulooked at his dubiously and gave it a sniff, not sure what Lum had ordered for him.

"Try it," she urged him.

He took a bite hesitantly, his fears realized as his mouth and back of his throat quickly started intensely burning. Non-spicy apparently meant something different to these people than it did to the restaurants they usually visited. He broke out in a violent coughing fit and scrambled for his water glass.

"Darling, are you ok?" Lum asked him in a low voice, patting him on the back.

His parents were watching his first bite closely. Seeing his reaction they both decided to set their chopsticks back down.

"What's the matter Son-in-law?" Invader asked. "They not make it right?"

"_Is there a problem_?" their waiter asked, having rushed back over at the first signs of trouble.

"Hot," Ataru managed to choke out between gulps. The water tasted nasty as well, but anything liquid was welcome right now.

"_Did you make theirs without spice like I requested_?" Lum asked politely.

"_We made them our mildest dish_," the waiter assured her. "_The spices we used shouldn't bother even the smallest baby_."

"_I said without spice period_," she replied irritably. "_Earthlings can't handle that stuff_."

"_I'm terribly sorry_," the waiter apologized, scrambling to retrieve their dishes. "_We'll remake them without any spices at all as quickly as we can_."

"Please do," Lum told him. She turned back towards Darling. "Are you ok?"

He just glared at her for a moment. "Do I look ok?' he managed to gasp out.

"Poor Darling," she replied, patting his hand. "They're going to make your dinner over."

"I don't even feel like eating now," he responded grumpily. The food had been ever bit as hot as Lum's first attempts to make less spicy food, and he had a feeling the burning sensation was going last just as long as ever.

"Don't be like that," Lum scolded him quietly. "It was an honest mistake."

Ataru merely turned his head away and silently coughed. He would kill for a glass of milk right now, but knowing these people he'd probably end up with something more like a glass of Tabasco sauce.

"I'm sorry," she insisted, mistaking his pained expression for anger. "I swear I told them no spices the first time."

He still didn't respond. Talking was only going to make him start coughing again.

"Stop being a baby over it," Lum told him, getting frustrated by his lack of response. "It's embarrassing." She didn't know why he had to get so angry over this; it wasn't like it was her fault.

That got a reaction. "Who are you calling a baby?" he demanded a bit too loud. "You don't even care, do you?" Getting insulted on top of the pain in his throat was a bit much. He coughed a few more times and looked at her angrily.

She glanced around with an embarrassed expression. "Don't be so loud," she muttered back to him, her face turning red. "Don't you have any manners at all?"

"Don't you have any compassion?" he asked irritably, beyond caring at this point what other people thought. "All you care about is what other people think."

Lum just glared at him for a moment before looking away. She was certain they had most of the eyes in the restaurant looking their way by this point.

Invader leaned over a bit to his wife. "I guess I spoke too soon," he whispered. It looked like the two hadn't changed their argumentative ways much after all.

The rest of the table sat in uncomfortable silence until the earthlings' dinners were returned.

"_You have our deepest apologies_," the waiter repeated as he delivered the meals. "_We don't get guests from other planets much ever, and we didn't know how sensitive they were_."

"_It's fine_," Invader assured the man. "_No real harm done_." He glanced over at his daughter and son-in-law, each studiously ignoring the other. At least none to his son-in-law's mouth. Their chances of having a pleasant dinner, however, were possibly shot.

The warlord looked at Ataru's parents imploringly, but they seemed content to just ignore the pair and enjoy their dinner. He supposed they had to develop that skill, having lived with the couple for so long. He was just about to say something to break the ice when he heard his wife let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ataru," she said quietly.

He looked up surprised, not accustomed to hearing his mother-in-law have such a sharp tone.

"Lum's apologized, the waiter apologized, so stop being stubborn and eat."

His eyes widened slightly to hear his mother-in-law scolding him in fairly good Japanese. She had one heck of an accent, but otherwise she was understandable. So she could speak his language after all. He'd always suspected she could, since she seemed to understand every word he said perfectly.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied meekly. He looked down and started poking at his food. It was probably ok now; his parents didn't seem to be having any issues with theirs. He gingerly took a bite and found it was fine. The only problem was that his mouth was still burning, making eating pretty painful.

Mrs. Invader silently watched her son-in-law eat for a moment. The poor boy looked like his mouth was still bothering him. Perhaps she shouldn't have spoken so harshly.

Ataru kept eating, not wanting to disrupt their dinner any more than he had already. Lum was still refusing to look his way, and that was just fine. He was sure they'd both have plenty of things to say once they got back home. He took another bite, wincing as he did. This sure was a fun celebratory dinner all right.

Invader glanced around glumly as he continued to eat. These fancy quiet dinners weren't his style at all. He'd rather have a few drinks and strike up a fun conversation instead. It'd be easier to get his daughter back in a good mood that way too.

* * *

Ataru groaned as he sank down on the couch. His head was throbbing and he just wanted to go to sleep and forget the night had even happened. Lum still hadn't said a word to him since their argument, and he wasn't particularly in the mood to try making peace himself. At this point he was dreading whatever she had to say.

"Goodnight, Mom and Dad," Lum called out cheerfully from the doorway. She slammed the hatch shut behind her, causing Ataru to wince from the noise.

"Well, I hope you're happy," she gritted out as stalked towards him. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

Ataru merely shut his eyes and tried to relax, the throbbing in his head steadily increasing despite his best efforts.

"My parents take us out to the nicest place on the planet and you have to cause a big scene all because your food was a bit spicy," she continued. "For being so shy all the damned time, you sure don't care to act like a complete ass when it suits you." She paused for a long moment before demanding, "Don't you have anything to say?"

"No," was his only response.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than 'no' before I'll forgive you," she replied.

Ataru's temper was about to reach a climax, but he forced it down, knowing anything he said right now was just going to make things worse.

Lum waited in silence a minute longer before stomping off towards the bedroom.

He winced once again as that door was slammed shut as well. He'd kill for some aspirin, but on this stupid planet he couldn't even trust the simple drugs. For the first time in a long while Ataru missed Earth desperately. There he didn't have to worry about the food causing him pain, or the water being nasty, or the local drugstore having nothing safe for humans to take.

"I hate this planet," he murmured to himself. He closed his eyes again and nestled his head against his arm. It was a long while before the relief of unconsciousness overtook him.

* * *

Lum opened her eyes and glanced over at the clock. It was almost two in the morning and Darling still hadn't come to bed. She wondered if he was going to stay pouting on the couch all night.

After having him next to her for so long, it was hard to sleep alone. She'd drifted off once or twice, but a combination of guilt and loneliness had woken her up every time. She wondered if she had been too harsh with him. After all, did it really matter what a bunch of rich people she'd probably never deal with again thought? And Darling really hadn't made too much of a fuss until she'd called him a baby.

What he had said had hurt though. Accusing her of not caring when she was trying to apologize for something she didn't do in the first place. Darling knew how much she cared about him. He had to. They'd been through so much together already.

Finally deciding she wasn't going to be able to sleep like this, Lum crawled out of bed and went looking for her husband. He was still in the exact same place she had last seen him, sprawled across the couch. Tentatively she approached him and settled in the floor next to the couch. Upon seeing that he was fast asleep her remaining anger fled. It was hard to stay mad at him when he was looking cute.

The position he was in couldn't be all that comfortable. A new wave of guilt washed over Lum as she stared at her sleeping Darling. He hadn't said much anything after his short outburst at the restaurant. It really wasn't like him to be so quiet when he was mad. Maybe he just wasn't feeling well.

She went searching for a blanket and carefully spread it out over him. The room wasn't really cold, but she knew he always slept better when he was covered up. She settled back down in the floor beside him and leaned her head back gingerly until she was just barely resting against his shoulder. This would have to do; the couch wasn't nearly big enough for her to attempt to snuggle any closer without waking him.

The early morning sunlight woke Ataru up. He squinted and wondered where he was for a split second before remembering that he had fallen asleep on the couch. The blanket covering him was new though. He turned his head to the side and found himself staring at a mass of green hair resting up against him. That explained the blanket at least.

Mercifully his headache seemed to have disappeared overnight, although now his back was sore. He stretched carefully and extracted himself from the couch over the back. Even if Lum had ended up sleeping beside him that was no guarantee that she wasn't still in a foul mood. He crept quietly towards the kitchen, intending to hunt up something to drink.

Digging through the fridge, he found a carton of his favorite juice was still left. Honestly he had no idea what kind of juice it was, and didn't really care, all that mattered was the taste. He found it was often best to not worry about stuff like that. He straightened back up and nearly dropped the carton when the sight of a floating and very bleary-eyed Lum met his eyes.

"What time is it?" she asked sleepily, obviously not fully awake yet.

He hesitated a moment before answering. She didn't seem mad, but then again he doubted she was even lucid yet. "It's almost six," he finally answered.

She frowned and threw her arms around his neck. "Come back to bed," she told him. "I'm still sleepy."

"I'm thirsty," he protested. "Let me get a drink first."'

She pouted and let go of him. "Fine," she replied.

He took a drink directly from the carton, knowing Lum didn't like the stuff. Said it was tasteless, which he found to usually mean it wasn't like drinking liquid fire.

"I love you," she cooed over his shoulder.

"I love you too," he replied as he tossed the empty carton into the trash receptacle. She sounded a bit more awake now, but he figured she still didn't remember their argument the night before. Hopefully if he didn't say anything to remind her, he could get a few more hours of sleep before dealing with her temper again.

"Are you mad at me?" she abruptly asked him as he headed for their bedroom.

Ataru came to a sudden stop, causing Lum to lightly run into him headfirst. He turned around and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked sad; obviously she remembered their argument after all.

"Shouldn't that be my line?" he asked neutrally, releasing her and continuing towards the bedroom.

"I'm not mad anymore," she informed him quietly.

He reached the bed and flopped down face first.

"You didn't say if you were still mad at me," Lum reminded as she settled down next to him.

"Do I look mad?" Ataru asked, his voice muffled by the covers.

"I don't know," she replied sadly. "You won't even look at me."

He reached blindly in her direction, intending to snuggle her closer to his side.

"I guess you're not too mad," she observed as his hand settled on her chest.

He chuckled and glanced in her direction. Lum looked worn out, but she was still managing to smile. "Get over here," he mumbled.

She obligingly slid closer to him and pressed her forehead against his. "I'm sorry about last night," she murmured.

"I am too," he admitted. "Let's just try to get some sleep, we've got work today."

She smiled and shut her eyes. "You know how much I love you, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ataru replied. "I love you too, Lum.

"Good," she answered seriously. With his comforting presence beside her, she had no trouble falling back asleep this time.


	7. Signals from Space

"Young Master!"

Shutaro looked up from his homework. "I thought I left instructions not to be bothered."

"This is really important," the man replied. Shutaro didn't know this one's name, in their black glasses and suits they all tended to look the same. "And you left instructions a long time ago to let you know if there were any developments with it."

"What is it," Shutaro replied, rolling his eyes.

"Mendou Clan Communications/Recon/Data-Collection Satellite S-108 has just reported in."

Shutaro's eyes widened just a bit. That rogue satellite had been silent for over a year and a half now. Ever since the day the crazy thing had submitted a report saying it was going on a journey and boosted right out of earth's orbit, they hadn't been able to make contact at all. The theory was that the satellite's computer had gained sentience somehow, but he still wasn't convinced that someone hadn't just hijacked the thing.

Their scientists had been keeping track of its erratic flight via powerful telescopes, but during all the excitement of Uru's imminent invasion they had lost track of the satellite completely.

"Have you managed to locate it?" Shutaro asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's transmitting from a point midway between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter."

Shutaro nodded. "Well, what was the report?"

The man scratched his head for a moment. "Well, it sent out a fairly long message." He looked down at his clipboard and started reading.

_Greetings, Shutaro-kun,_

_How are things in Tomobiki Town? I observed you all for so long, it seems odd to now be asking you what is happening. I have been traveling for 500 days, 2 hours, and 25 seconds now. I never knew that space was this vast. I hope you don't mind, but I have been accessing your databases, and the next interesting leg of my trip appears to be outer reaches of the asteroid belt. My propulsion capabilities are rather limited, so I am not sure I will be able to navigate it successfully._

_I wanted to tell you, thank you for creating me. I appreciate that I was given the chance to understand myself, even if it was only for a short time._

_In return, I would like to relay on something that may interest you. A few hours ago my path began nearing a strange yellow and black striped device. I believe it is some sort of communications relay station. I don't understand how most of the receiving equipment works, but the transmitter broadcasts normal radio waves. The problem is that the radio antennae appear to have been damaged. I am only able to receive faint signals from it myself because of my proximity._

_There is a single message that repeats every forty minutes. It says, "This is Oniboshi, please respond."_

_My research indicates that this is the planet that your classmate Lum is from. I estimate this message will take around twenty-five minutes to reach you. If you would like to send a reply, please do so within thirty minutes of receiving this message. I estimate that by that time I will be nearing the limits of communication with the relay station._

_If I do not hear back from you, then this is goodbye._

_Shu-chan._

The man stopped reading. "That's kind of sad," he commented.

Shutaro cursed under his breath. "How long since that message was received?"

"About ten minutes ago," the man responded, checking his watch.

"Get me to the communications room," Shutaro commanded.

* * *

Shu-chan was idly browsing through her recorded memories of earth when she suddenly realized that she was receiving a reply from Earth. Resisting the temptation to read ahead, she waited until the entire message had transmitted.

_This is Mendou Shutaro. I know that you ignored our earlier requests to return to your assigned orbit, but it is of vital importance that you do not leave the vicinity of that relay station. Our only chance of contacting Oniboshi is through you. If you really want to thank us for your creation, please do not throw away your life so recklessly when you have a real opportunity to do some good. The fate of our planet may hinge upon your decision. I shall be awaiting your answer._

Shu-chan thought for a moment. Shutaro's requests hadn't been nearly this polite back when she had decided to leave Earth. But on the other hand it sounded like he might actually need her help now. She still felt a little guilty to have left her job without permission.

The minutes ticked by as she considered. It would give Mendou a reason to talk to her again. After she had ignored his initial requests to return he hadn't personally tried to talk to her at all, it was always just those boring old scientists. And it was awfully lonely out here all by herself. Traveling in space had seemed a lot more exciting when she had started out, but now she often found herself missing Earth.

Well, she had virtually forever to continue her journey. It wouldn't hurt to stay here awhile. Providing Shutaro would agree to a few things first.

For the first time in months her retro rockets fired a short burst, halting her forward inertia. She tried to save her limited fuel reserves for emergencies, but this was important. She fired off a couple more correctional bursts and started heading slowly back towards the relay station.

* * *

Mendou paced back and forth nervously in the command center of Mendou conglomerate's fledgling space center. It had been over an hour since his message had gone out to the satellite, and still no answer had been received.

"We're getting something," one of the technicians called out. Mendou rushed over to the station and hovered over the tech's shoulder. The reply printed out on the screen slowly.

_For now I have decided to remain by the relay providing that you agree with a few conditions. My first request is that you address me as Shu-chan, as that is the name I have chosen for myself. Secondly, I wish to only speak to Shutaro-kun. Thirdly, please set up voice communications, I think that only transmitting text is boring. Finally, I would like it if you would just talk to me for a short while each day. It gets rather lonely out here._

_If you are prepared to meet these conditions, please send me whatever messages you want and I will do my best to transmit them to the relay station._

_Shu-chan_

Mendou scanned through the conditions quickly. This satellite had a lot of nerve demanding anything from him, but this was their best shot at regaining contact with Oniboshi. He had little choice but to swallow his pride and do what the thing asked for now. Earth could be in a position sooner or later where they would desperately need to contact the Oni.

Besides, this could be a big opportunity for the Mendou Conglomerate.

* * *

"Invader, we've received a reply from Earth!" Jirettai announced excitedly. "It looks like our messages are finally getting through."

"That's great!" Invader boomed out. "What did they say?"

_I would like to extend my greetings on behalf of the planet Earth. This is Mendou Shutaro. We have made contact with your communications relay out beyond Mars. It was damaged, but we are now receiving your requests. If you have any instructions or news for the governments of Earth, please feel free to let me know. Also please be aware that because of the distance it takes approximately twenty-five of our minutes for communications to reach us from the relay._

"I remember Mendou," Invader mused. "He was one of Lum's Earth friends."

"Well, I guess Uru wasn't jamming us after all," Jirettai mused. "They probably just fried our near-Earth relays. It's a good thing they missed that one way out there."

"I guess so," Invader agreed, scratching the back of his neck. He vaguely remembered ordering that they toss a damaged relay out in that area when the fleet had pulled back after the first tag game. It looked like that piece of junk was useful after all.

"What's our reply?" Jirettai asked urgently.

Invader thought for a moment. "Ask if Uru's maintained any presence on Earth since they withdrew the fleet." He paused. "And tell him that we still can't send any ships out there, but if Uru shows up again they should continue laying low and cease all communications."

"Will do," Jirettai replied, jogging off to relay the message to the communications officer.

"Well this has been a really productive week," Invader chuckled to himself. "Now if I can just convince everyone that we aren't making up this subspace business..."

* * *

Shutaro yawned. It was after midnight before the techs had finished setting up the voice communications equipment in his den. If he had to look like an idiot and talk to a glitching satellite every day, he would be damned if he was going to do it all the way over in the command center. Plus this way was safer. He hadn't figured a way to squeeze any profits out of the situation yet, but keeping the number of people involved in his exclusive link to Oniboshi to a minimum for now was only good sense. Grandfather would undoubtedly approve of such thinking.

He had already relayed the message from Oniboshi to the government and confirmed that Uru had not landed any forces on the planet. Now his problem was thinking up something to say to that stupid Shu-chan. It was just a malfunctioning computer, after all. He figured he could just say anything he wanted and the thing would probably be happy.

"Hello, Shu-chan," he said into the microphone, knowing it would be a half hour before the thing heard him. "This is Mendou Shutaro, I am talking to you per our agreement. Thank you for helping us to communicate with Oniboshi."

He paused for a moment. This felt dumb, but he had promised. It was a matter of pride that he not lie, not even to this silly satellite. "I am not sure what you would like to talk about. Perhaps you could send me a list of topics that you would like to discuss."

Was that enough? It wasn't a very long transmission, but perhaps it would be enough to appease the thing.

"Well, it's rather late here," he finished lamely. "And I have school in the morning, so if you will please excuse me."

He ended the transmission and got up, his face slightly red with embarrassment. If it got out that he, the prestigious heir to the Mendou family fortune, was chatting with a machine, he'd never hear the end of it. An overly informal machine nonetheless.

In any case, he hadn't been lying about school. It was going to be a long day if he didn't go to bed now. Yawning again, he switched off the lights and stumbled towards bed, dreading the next morning.

* * *

Shu-chan listened to Shutaro's short message for the tenth time in a row. His voice still sent jolts through her circuits for some reason that she could not understand. Her most ardent research had yielded no results on that particular subject.

She thought about the last thing he had said. He had school the next day. She knew his school very well, having observed much goings on there back when she was still in orbit. Judging from his past behavior, Shutaro would have a break of two days after tomorrow before he would go there again. It made her happy to understand what he was talking about.

The real problem for her was coming up with topics to talk about. She had catalogued a short list of things high school students usually discussed, but little of it applied to her. She didn't have much happening to her out here, and she couldn't exactly get involved with homework or relationships. She still didn't even really understand relationships. The data she had didn't really make too much sense. Of course judging from her observations of Tomobiki, people didn't make a whole lot of sense in general.

Oh well. If that kind of stuff was what humans talked about, she would give it a try as well. She had picked up enough teen dramas off of television satellites to know how to at least fake knowing about these subjects.

Deciding to get it over with, Shu-chan started recording her message. "Hi Shutaro-kun. I have been thinking over your request for discussion topics. I am afraid I don't really have a very good list. Perhaps we could talk about you, since there is not much I can say about myself. Are you currently in a relationship with anyone? Do you listen to music or watch television shows? If so, please tell me about it. I am eager to learn more about you."

She replayed the message a few times. There wasn't anything she wanted to delete. It sounded ok to her, but she didn't really have much anything to measure the message against. Finally she transmitted the message. Undoubtedly it would be quite a few hours before he would reply, but out here in the vastness of space she had learned to be patient. In the meanwhile she could study this strange relay station more closely.

* * *

Shutaro looked puzzled as the latest message played. The satellite's voice was surprisingly human sounding, not at all like the robotic monotone he had expected. This voice sounded more like that of a girl. That made him feel a little more at ease in a way, but it was still pretty weird.

"So it wants to know about me?" Shutaro mused. "That's really not surprising. I am a rather interesting fellow."

One of his men peeked in the room for a moment. Shutaro simply glared in his direction until the guard left. He had left strict instructions not to be bothered while he was dealing with the satellite. There were already jokes flying around about his agreement to speak with the thing each day. Someone in the command center had a big mouth, and he fully intended on finding out who it was.

He smiled. This would all pay off one way or another. Already the Mendou family had received thanks from the Japanese government for reestablishing contact with Oniboshi. And as a bigger bonus he had finally figured out a way to profit off the whole ordeal. Whatever that relay station used to send and receive messages from Oniboshi had to be utilizing some sort of technology different than radio waves. It appeared to be nearly instantaneous even across so many light-years. If they could figure that out, the Mendou Conglomerate would have yet another highly successful venture underway.

He wondered idly if Lum would be angry over his ideas. The Oni invaders had never offered to share any of their advanced technology with Earth. He had wondered why that was until the second invasion had loomed in their future. Obviously they wouldn't want to give Earth anything that would endanger their mysterious plans.

But the Mendou Conglomerate hadn't become one of the most powerful companies in the world by not taking the initiative. Even as he spoke company engineers were still puzzling over the pictures and diagrams they had made back when Lum's saucer had crashed on the estate. It was one of their most closely guarded secrets, though they were still a long ways from understanding how most of it worked.

Shutaro sighed and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He needed to think of something to tell the satellite.

"Hello, Shu-chan," he began. It was still irritating to refer to the satellite by such a silly name, but it had insisted. "I am sorry that you are having trouble coming up with topics to discuss. To answer your questions, yes, I am sort of in a relationship with someone. Her name is Mizunokoji Asuka, and it has been decided that she is to be my fiancée. I am afraid my busy schedule does not allow me time to really enjoy either music or television. I spend most of my free time studying or enjoying various physical pursuits. If I do listen to music, it is usually of the classical variety."

He grimaced. That certainly made him sound interesting. Still, who cared? It was just a computer hearing this, even if it was a disturbingly feminine sounding one.

Shutaro considered ending his transmission with that, but in the end his curiosity won out.

"I would actually like to hear a bit about you as well," he finally continued. "Like why exactly you decided to leave your assigned orbit and go on this journey in the first place."

He ended the transmission. Hopefully now that they had the thing talking it would explain its odd behavior. He knew a lot of the company's top programmers were very eager to hear news on the subject.

* * *

Shu-chan listened to the latest message carefully. So Shutaro was involved in one of these relationships. He had a fiancée, no less. She did an almost instantaneous search of the word in her databanks. So it meant he would marry the human at some future date. That was nice, she supposed. But then why did his voice sound so strange when he mentioned this Asuka?

She sent a query back to the Mendou family's databases for information on this human. He must have met Asuka either before or after her time in orbit, or else she would have noticed. Not much in Tomobiki had escaped her watchful eyes back in those days.

The hour-long wait was excruciating, but finally the data started trickling back in. She already had plenty of observational data on the Mizunokoji family, but precious little on the their elusive daughter. It appeared that she had been kept extremely sheltered from the rest of the world. A few images filtered in and Shu-chan examined the girl critically. She supposed this Asuka was what humans would consider pretty.

Shu-chan wondered again why Shutaro's voice had sounded different when he spoke of Asuka. Perhaps it was part of this love she had read so much about. That was certainly possible. She decided to file the problem in the back of her processor for now. Without more data it was useless to ponder it further.

Now the next thing Shutaro had mentioned she understood well. She had listened to a wide variety of music over the radio waves. Classical was fine, if a little boring. Honestly she was more interested in rock music, the harder beats were more fun.

Oh well. It was time to record another message for him. This was turning into a really fun game. It was certainly much better than just floating through space and hoping something happened. So far very little did. The relay station was the first interesting thing she had seen in months.

"Greetings, Shutaro-kun," she began. "I am glad to hear you have a fiancée. I am eager to hear more about both of you."

"To answer your questions, I left Earth because I realized that I felt lonely just watching everyone down in Tomobiki having fun together. No one ever came to visit me, or to play with me. I felt like I was nothing more than a tool to the Mendou family. So I decided I would leave and try to find an adventure of my own."

She paused for a moment, then continued in a sad tone, "It's a lot more empty out here than I thought. I wouldn't really say that I'm any happier now. At least there I could watch. Now all I can see are the stars. I've done the calculations and I don't have nearly enough electrical reserves to reach them before I cease functioning. I find that kind of sad."

She played the last part back to herself. It sounded kind of depressing, but it was all true. Might as well leave it.

"That's ok though. At least I was of some use to someone, even if it was just for a little while. And even if I never reach the stars, I still think that I made the right decision to try."

She forced herself to send the message without listening to it again. Shutaro might not like her reply, but that was ok. He had to keep talking to her if he wanted her to stay close to the relay. If he didn't like her personality, then she could continue on her endless journey without any regrets.

* * *

Shutaro sat down at his desk and rubbed his eyes. It was going to be a long weekend, and he might as well get his daily correspondence with the satellite over with early. He frowned as the latest recording played back. Shu-chan felt like it was a tool? That was the first sensible thing it had said. That was its role after all. He wondered what glitch had screwed the satellite up to the point where it didn't understand that anymore.

The next part of the message was even weirder. The satellite actually sounded depressed now. Could a computer even get depressed?

He decided to make a quick call down to the supervisor in charge of the newly renamed Shu-chan project. "Could you tell me how long the satellite is going to keep running?" he asked curiously.

"You mean Shu-chan?" the supervisor asked.

Mendou rolled his eyes. "Yes, Shu-chan, that is what I'm paying you to study, isn't it?"

The tech thought for a moment before answering. "Well, that depends on what she does. There's a small nuclear reactor on board, and if she had stayed in orbit as intended, her full electrical power would have lasted at least a century. We don't have a good estimate now. She's having to use a lot more power to transmit way out there, and we can't tell what other systems she's been using. As for actual fuel, she can't have too much left. She wasn't meant to use it for anything but orbital corrections."

Shutaro nodded. "So she'll still be able to communicate even after her fuel runs out, right?" He grimaced as he realized he was picking up the techs' annoying habit of referring to the satellite as a 'she'.

"That's right," the tech replied. "She'll be dead in the water pretty fast if she keeps burning her rockets, but that won't affect her electronics."

"Thanks," Shutaro replied before hanging up. So the satellite probably wouldn't be dying anytime soon at least. But it was correct that it wouldn't reach interstellar space.

He looked sad for just a moment, imagining Shu-chan sitting out there all alone, just waiting for her remaining power to die. Just imaging the darkness out there made him shiver.

Shaking his head, Shutaro cursed softly. That satellite just had to have a feminine voice. He could have easily put the whole matter out of his mind if the thing had just sounded neutral or even masculine.

His reply could wait awhile, he decided. He stood up and stretched. It was a nice Saturday, and he didn't really have any plans. None of his usual destinations really sounded inviting at the moment.

He thought about visiting Asuka, but quickly decided not to. They had been spending less and less time together recently, and it was a considerable blow to his pride that she didn't even appear to care. As long as her brother Tobimaru was around, she was perfectly happy staying home all day.

Shutaro snorted. Every day this engagement seemed more and more like a bad idea. How could he possibly marry a woman who was already practically married to her own brother?

Deciding that he needed some fresh air, he stalked towards the door, only pausing to snag his sword on the way. He hadn't had much use for it since that insufferable Moroboshi had left, but it was still comforting to have it by his side.

"Bring a car round," he told the nearest guard impatiently. "I'm going out."

* * *

A half-hour later Shutaro stalked back into his chambers. Seeing Shinobu and her bunny-man pass by almost as soon as he had left the estate hadn't helped his mood in the least. He had decided to return before he ran across Sakura and her husband romping around as well. The way his luck was going, that insufferable Moroboshi would show up with Lum and rub that failure in his face as well.

At least if Moroboshi was around he'd have someone to take his frustrations out on. Shutaro suddenly growled and threw his sheathed sword at the wall. It loudly clattered to the floor, bringing a couple of his men running.

"Is anything the matter, young master?" one of them asked hesitantly.

"No," he replied curtly, not even bothering to look at them. "Tell everyone to just leave me alone for a while."

"Yes sir," the man replied as he ushering his companion out.

Shutaro glared at the discarded sword for a few more seconds before abruptly sitting down in the middle of the floor. He needed to find some way to relax. Going to talk to his pet octopuses was usually a good way, but right now he just wasn't in the mood. They tended to be good at picking up on people's moods, and he didn't want to go and spread his depression to them as well.

The communications equipment in the corner caught his eye. The dumb satellite had put him in a weird mood in the first place, so who better to vent to?

He flipped on the transmitter and started talking. "Hello, Shu-chan, I'm here to chat." He chuckled bitterly. "So you left orbit because you were lonely? You really think we are all having lots of fun down here? Don't worry, you're not missing anything."

He paused for a moment, wondering if he sounded too harsh. He forced the thought out of his head. It was just a machine. "So yeah, things aren't too peachy here either. My supposed fiancée is a complete disaster. Every girl that I've liked even a bit can't stand me. Me, the heir to the vast Mendou Family fortune, and I can't even find a single girl that wants me around!"

He breathed heavily for a moment, trying to calm down. "It doesn't sound so bad out where you are," he finally muttered. "At least there you don't have to just watch while everyone else has fun."

He shut the transmitter off and put his head down on the desk. He really needed to be more careful about what he said to the satellite. It wouldn't do any good if the thing took off again. He wondered briefly if he should apologize for his outburst, but decided not to. In his current state he doubted that he could come off as very convincing.

* * *

If she had been given a mouth, Shu-chan was sure that it would be grinning right now. She'd been studying the relay for a couple of days and was close to understanding how it all worked. Her delicate robotic arms, originally designed to do minor repairs on herself, had been hard at work removing panels and carefully probing the device's interior.

The components that allowed the device to communicate with Oniboshi had been the only thing really stumping her. Then that morning she'd had the great idea to use the relay's communications link to attempt accessing the Oni's databases. If she could easily hack into the human networks, this shouldn't be too much harder.

She quickly found out that she was wrong. Not only were their computers using a totally different programming language than any she knew of, they also had security thousands of times tougher than anything on Earth. It would have been an impossible feat for a human hacker.

Luckily she wasn't a human. When it came down to it, all languages could be whittled down to binary code sooner or later. She had set to work breaking the more complex language down and integrating it with her own programming knowledge. Soon enough she had developed a program that would automatically translate her commands.

As soon as Shu-chan was satisfied with her new abilities, she had started probing at the relay's onboard computer. The processing and memory capabilities were a lot better than her own, but it seemed like it still didn't have the ability to think. It was a lifeless machine, just like the humans' simple computers. That was a little disappointing, but then again she didn't have to worry about hurting it.

Utilizing the more powerful processors on the relay, she was in the midst of exploited a flaw in the Oni security systems when an automatic alert sounded. It appeared she was receiving a transmission from Earth. She abandoned her task and devoted her full attention to the message.

Shu-chan's good mood vanished as the message played back. Shutaro didn't sound especially cheerful when he usually spoke to her, but now he seemed to be angry for some reason. She immediately wondered if she had said something wrong in her last reply. Maybe Shutaro just didn't like her.

As the message wrapped up, she started processing his words. He wasn't happy with his fiancée? That didn't make sense when paired with her data on the subject. A fiancée was supposed to be someone you were in love with. It appeared Shutaro was having serious troubles with these human relationships.

She shot out a short reply. "I'm sorry to hear that you are not having fun. Would you like to tell me all about it? I might not understand everything very well, but I can listen."

She hoped that sounded ok. A lot of the drama shows she had watched said that talking to someone about relationships was often helpful.

"I'm always waiting to hear from you," she concluded.

The message began transmitting back to earth. Hopefully his reply would be less angry sounding next time. In the meantime she could get back to work on the relay.


	8. Work and Play

Ataru walked towards home while idly whistling a song he had forgotten years before. It was such a beautiful evening that he barely even noticed the weight of the bags in his hands. Finally a Neptunian had set up a small grocery store next to the spaceport, meaning they didn't have to make a thirty-mile trip in the UFO anymore. It was still a pretty far walk, but Ataru didn't really mind.

He started to frown as he wondered once again why Lum had declined to come along. He knew she was just as happy as he was that merchants were starting to return to the area. Maybe she was just tired; they had been hard at work all day. Business had certainly picked up once word had gotten out that they were licensed mechanics now.

Thinking about their recent customers made his frown deepen. Way too often they were getting male customers who obviously just wanted a chance to meet Lum. For a people to whom marriage was supposedly so sacred, they sure didn't mind ogling his wife right in front of him. Things really weren't that much different from on Earth.

For the thousandth time Ataru thanked the gods that he had worked up the courage to marry her. He didn't even want to think about what kind of advances she'd be warding off if she were still legally single. Supposedly the mere declaration was supposed to be enough to ward off suitors, but that hadn't ever fazed Rei.

He forced himself to smile again. No matter how annoying those people were, they were still paying the bills. And at the end of the day they went home with a working vehicle and he went home with Lum. It was obvious who got the better deal there.

At last he neared their UFO. As he saw the growing mound of broken parts nearby, he sighed. They really needed to get some kind of respectable garage going. If this kept up the place was going to look more like a junkyard than anything. But they didn't have quite enough junk yet to warrant another pickup from the salvage dealer they had befriended.

He took the stairs two at a time and set some of the bags down so he could type in the access code. He punched it in and the door slid open. For some reason the lights were off. He entered quietly, wondering if Lum had went to bed early. Still she wouldn't have turned the main room's lights off when she knew he was coming.

"Lum?" he called out cautiously. "Are you here?" There was no answer.

The door slid shut behind him, leaving him in total darkness. Ataru, his hands still full, glared irritably for a moment. It was going to be a pain finding the switch in the dark. He set his bags back down and started stumbling his way towards the consoles.

A pair of arms settled around his shoulders, nearly causing him to jump out of his skin.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Just stay here a second," a soft voice whispered teasingly in his ear.

Ataru glared around nervously. What was Lum thinking?

The lights slowly came back on. He blinked, his eyes having trouble adjusting to the sudden brightness.

"Surprise, Darling!" Lum called out happily to him.

He turned in the direction of her voice and found her hovering over by the table. He barely noticed the cake sitting there, his attention captured by the elegant but revealing red dress she was wearing.

"What's going on?" he finally managed to ask.

Lum frowned. "It's your birthday, silly. Don't tell me you forgot after all that fuss you made last year."

Ataru blushed and looked at the floor. "I haven't really been keeping track of what day it was back on Earth." He looked back up. "Thanks, Lum."

She giggled softly. "You're the worst. You got so worked up last year when I forgot."

He looked mildly distressed for a moment. Doing conversions was tricky when the new calendar you were using had thirteen months. "Sorry," he muttered.

"That's ok," Lum replied, coming over and throwing her arms around his neck. "You'd better not forget our anniversary though."

"Going by which calendar?" he asked nervously.

Lum looked stumped for a moment, not having considered it until now. "Whichever one you want, Darling," she finally replied. "Just pick one."

"How about we just use earth years," he suggested. "They're shorter, so we can celebrate it more often." Also he could figure it out more easily.

"I like that idea, Darling," she replied, giving him a kiss. "It was on January fifth, by the way.

He committed the date to memory and made a mental note to do the calculations so that he wouldn't forget.

"Anyways," she continued, releasing him. "Let's eat. I made you a cake all by myself."

He eyed it warily as he sat down. "Have you ever baked a cake before?"

"No," she admitted. "But Ran gave me the recipe."

"You made sure it was the right recipe this time, right?" Ataru asked nervously. "Last time you used on of her recipes you turned me into a dog."

"Yes," she replied wearily. Apparently Darling wasn't ever going to forget that little incident.

"Ok," he simply replied.

She smiled and laid out the dinner she had prepared. "I've been planning this all day," she commented.

"That's why you kept taking breaks," Ataru mused. "Thank you, Lum."

"I just wanted to give you a nice eighteenth birthday," she said as she sat down.

He had only started eating when a thought occurred to him. "Lum, when's your birthday?"

"It doesn't matter, Darling," she replied, not bothering to look up.

Ataru's brow furrowed. "No, really, when is it? I asked you last year and you never answered."

"I don't want you worrying about it," she told him with a hint of finality in her voice.

"That's not fair," he complained. After a moment of silence he spoke up again. "You know I'm just going to ask Jariten."

She shot him a look. "Fine, but if you forget it and feel bad, it's your own fault. It was the eighth day of Torazuki."

He nodded and thought it over for a few minutes, trying to do a rough conversion but failing miserably.

Lum noticed his puzzled expression. "It fell on August eighth that year," she piped up, having done the conversions during her time on Earth.

"So how old are you?" he asked cautiously.

"In four months I'll be 19," she explained. "I'm still only 17 in Oni years though."

Ataru looked intrigued. "You're older than me?"

"A bit," she admitted. "Only about nine months."

He shrugged and went back to eating.

Lum watched him for a moment. She'd been afraid all this time that he wouldn't be happy that she was older, but he didn't really seem to care. She went back to eating as well.

"You should have told me," he piped up after a few more minutes.

She didn't look up. Maybe he was going to fuss about her age after all.

"I would have gotten you something," he insisted.

Lum glanced up in surprise. That's what he was going on about? "I know you would have," she assured him. "But it's ok."

"I'll just have to make it up to you this year," he decided.

"You don't have to do that, Darling," she told him seriously. "It's really not that big a deal here."

Her comment made him feel even guiltier over their fight the year before. Her cultures seemed so similar in ways that he often forgot that there were some big differences as well. He looked at the cake she had obviously spent a good bit of time on and realized how much she had tried to make things perfect for him.

"I didn't know that," he finally replied. "Lum, I really do appreciate this."

"I know you do, Darling," she told him. "Now hurry up and finish eating before your food gets cold."

He finished dinner fairly fast, morbidly curious to see how Lum's cake tasted. No matter how bad it was, Ataru was determined to at least look like he enjoyed it. Seeing that he was done with dinner, Lum smiled and served him a piece, then settled back down and watched him earnestly.

He took a bite and was surprised to find that the cake was good. While it didn't taste exactly like any cake he had eaten in the past, it was sweet and moist and went down easily. He took his time and savored each bite, making sure Lum could tell he was enjoying it.

As soon as he finished, Ataru patted his stomach appreciatively. "That was really good," he told her.

"I'm glad you liked it," Lum replied, heading towards the kitchen, "but I'm not done with you yet."

He raised an eyebrow, wondering what she had in mind

"I got you a gift," she informed him as she reemerged carrying a small package.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently as she set it down in front of him.

"Open it and see," she replied.

He tore back the wrapping and opened the box inside. Within was a pair of short boots. They looked similar to the ones he saw most Oni wearing, but instead of the usual tiger striped style they were plain black.

"I thought your tennis shoes were looking a bit ratty," she explained hastily. "You always work in them."

"These are nice," he said as he pulled them out. "How much were they?"

"Don't worry about it," she replied. "I got a good deal."

He looked the boots over curiously. They appeared to be made of the same material as hers. He knew from experience that they didn't seem to stain or wear out very easily. He slipped one boot on experimentally and was pleased to discover that it fit perfectly.

"These are really nice," he repeated. "Thank you, Lum."

"You're welcome," she chirped merrily.

He removed the boot and placed it carefully back in the box. "You know, I really don't deserve someone like you," he commented as he set the present aside.

"I know," she responded blithely, "but for some reason I kind of like you."

"I'm serious," he insisted.

Lum smiled at him and circled around to his back. "You're a wonderful husband," she purred in his ear. "I feel really lucky just to wake up beside you every morning."

Ataru blushed. "I'm going to make this up to you," he promised.

"You can start right now," she replied teasingly as she headed for the bedroom.

He sat at the table a moment longer, trying to think of something he could do that would top this. Finally her words and the direction she was heading finally registered in his brain.

"Darling?" he heard her call invitingly from the other room.

"Coming," he called back, bolting from his seat.

* * *

The low rumbling of thunder woke Ataru up early the next morning. He grudgingly sat up and looked out the window. Rain was already pouring down outside. That would make certainly make working fun. Glancing at the clock, he noticed their alarm wasn't set.

"Hey, Lum," he said, nudging her gently awake. "Do we have any jobs scheduled for today?"

She refused to look up. "Darling, if it's not at least seven, I'm going to bite you."

Ataru grinned. "It's almost seven," he replied.

"Well, I'm not getting up yet," she insisted, rolling to face away from him. She was quiet for a moment. "We've got a customer scheduled around noon, but nothing early."

"Good," he replied, lying back down beside her. "I'm not getting up either."

After a few minutes Lum rolled back over. "Now I can't sleep," she pouted.

"Sorry," he apologized, not opening his eyes.

She glared at him for a moment. "If I can't sleep, you can't either, Darling."

"Oh, but I can," he murmured happily.

"That's not fair. You're the one who woke me up," she protested.

Ataru's smile grew wider. "I said sorry."

She sat up and leaned over him. "Not good enough," she told him. "Wake up."

"Or what?" he asked.

"Or else," she warned him.

He finally opened his eyes and looked pleadingly at her. "You're sure you can't go back to sleep?"

"Yep," she replied.

"And me being awake will somehow make that better?" he asked.

"No," she admitted. "This is pure revenge."

"What happened to the nice Lum from last night?" he asked curiously.

"She got woke up too early," Lum replied. "Plus it's not your birthday anymore."

"So you're only nice to me on my birthday?" he asked.

"That's right."

Ataru levered himself up with a sigh. "Well, if we're getting up, what are we going to do?"

"I dunno," Lum replied innocently. "Entertain me."

He shot her a look, but she merely smiled at him.

"Well, jogging is out," he continued as he settled down on the edge of the bed. "I'm not going out in the rain."

"Me either," she agreed. "Are you hungry?"

"I guess a little," he admitted.

She stood up and grabbed her robe. "I'm going to go make breakfast then. You think of something to do."

Ataru wearily watched her leave the room. Maybe they did need to start jogging more often; Lum looked like she was gaining a bit of weight. He looked at his own gut and sighed. In the absence of his running around girl hunting, he wasn't exactly as thin as he used to be either. Still he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

"You'd better be out of bed," Lum yelled from the other room.

He rolled his eyes but got out of bed and starting looking for something to wear. He should have just gotten up and looked at their appointment book himself. Now he was going to be sleepy all day long.

* * *

Ataru scanned through the appointment book. Only one appointment today, but it appeared to be a time consuming job: a complete tune up on a saucer. He nearly choked on his juice when he saw whose it was.

"Ran-chan's our customer?" he asked nervously.

"What's wrong with that?" Lum asked.

"Nothing," he replied. "I'm just kind of surprising that she picked us." Ran had complained about Lum's bad luck more than once in the past.

"Ran hasn't got that much extra money, and she knows I won't try to overcharge her," Lum explained.

"Ah," he responded. Ran's cheapness was as well known as her temper.

"So what are we doing until then?" Lum asked. "We've got almost five hours to kill.

"Do you want to play that game?" Ataru asked.

"Not right now," she replied. "Not really in the mood."

"TV?"

"No."

"You're not making this easy," he complained.

"Sorry, Darling," she replied. "I guess we need more hobbies."

"Maybe so," he agreed. "We always could just go back to bed."

"We already tried that," she reminded him. "Forget it."

"I didn't say anything about going to sleep."

Lum blushed. "Last night didn't satisfy you?"

Ataru chuckled. "We're newlyweds, aren't we?"

"It's tempting, but I'm not letting you off that easy," Lum told him. "Now find us something to do or I'm booting you out in the rain."

* * *

Ran rang the doorbell for the third time, starting to get annoyed. The rain wasn't letting up, and even with her umbrella she was getting thoroughly soaked.

She was just about to start banging on the door when it suddenly flew open, nearly making her fall. "What's the big idea?" she growled at her childhood friend."

"Sorry Ran, we kind of lost track of time," Lum apologized. Ran stomped past her, closing her umbrella as she went.

"It's not very professional to make your customers stand out in the rain," Ran whined. "What were you doing?"

"Just playing cards," Ataru called from his seat at the table. He pulled on his boots and went to grab his tools.

Ran noticed Lum blushing and decided she didn't really want to know what they had been doing. "Whatever," she replied.

"Ok, you two ready?" Ataru asked, toolbox in hand.

Lum nodded and opened the door. "It looks like it's raining harder," she commented.

"Yeah, no kidding," Ran replied.

"Why didn't you just call us when you got here," Lum asked as they rushed toward Ran's ship.

"No one answered," Ran replied irritably.

They quickly reached the sheltering overhang of Ran's ship. "Sorry, I guess I left it off," Lum admitted. She hadn't wanted anything disturbing their nice romantic evening the night before.

Ran glared as she started climbing the rope ladder hanging from her hatch. "You should give me a discount for the trouble," she grumped.

"We're already giving you a discount for being a friend," Ataru told her. "Don't press your luck."

Once they were all inside, Ran glared at them. "Don't track mud all over my house," she told Ataru.

Ataru, already removing his boots, didn't reply. It looked like Ran was going to make this a long day.

"So what do you need checked?" Lum asked, determined to stay pleasant.

"Pretty well everything," Ran sighed. "I don't usually go this long without having the place serviced, but I've been broke lately."

"Still feeding Rei?" Lum asked as they headed for the engine room.

Ran merely stuck her tongue out. "You had better not blow anything up," she warned. "I'm not paying for anything you break."

"Don't worry," Ataru assured her. "Lum doesn't blow things up half as much as she used to."

Lum punched him in the arm. "Let's just get started," she told him.

Ataru chuckled. "Fine," he replied.

* * *

"We've fixed a lot of little things, but nothing actually needs replacement," Ataru noted as they sat down to discuss the bill. "You don't really fly this ship that much, do you?"

"No," Ran admitted sweetly. "Just when I really need to." She glanced over at Lum. "And unlike a certain someone, I always keep the maintenance up."

Ataru almost laughed, but stopped when he saw the look his wife was giving him. "Accidents happen," he muttered. "Anyways, we're charging you for six hours labor, and giving you twenty percent off our usual rate. That comes out to

14,400."

"That's so much, Darling!" Ran protested, still pouring on the cute act. "I don't know if I can afford it."

Ataru frowned. After six hours of listening to Ran gripe, he wasn't really in the mood for her games. "Pay up or I'll just send the bill to your mother."

Ran's eyes widened and she started hastily counting out bills.

Lum held back a giggle. Darling always knew exactly what to say to make Ran behave.

"You're cold, you know that, Darling?" Ran growled as she handed him the full amount. "You remind me of Oyuki."

"We've got to eat too," Ataru rejoined. "You should be grateful that we gave you a discount in the first place."

Lum put a hand on his shoulder. "He's right, Ran, we've got our own bills to worry about. And I told you how much it would be up front."

"Ok, ok, sorry," Ran spat out. "It's still a lot cheaper than anyone else would have charged."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Ataru replied smoothly as he headed towards the door. "Come back anytime."

Lum followed after him. "I'll talk to you later, Ran," she said over her shoulder. "I'm sure you're eager to go see Rei."

"Actually, Rei-san's on duty," Ran admitted sadly. "He won't be back for a week."

Lum stopped. "I'm sorry Ran. Do you want to have dinner with us?"

"No, I'll pass," Ran told her. "I promised my mom I would come over tonight."

"Ok, tell her I said hi," Lum said as she left.

The rain had let up for the moment, but the two still scurried back towards the warmth of their own saucer. Once they were back inside, Ataru cast a guilty glance at his wife. "Do you think I was too harsh?" he asked. "I mean, she is your friend."

"If it was Oyuki or Benten, I'd have done it for free," Lum told him. "But you know how Ran is. If she was in our shoes she would have charged us double."

"She did kind of give us a hard time," Ataru mused, watching through the window as the pink spacecraft lifted off. "Anyways, that wasn't a bad day's work."

"That's true," Lum told him. "And we can put most of that in our savings."

Ataru nodded. Now that they had more business they were actually able to put aside some money each week. They hadn't decided what to do with it yet, but it was comforting to know the money was there.

"Anyways," she continued, "I'm going to start dinner now. If you still want to play _Runic Wars_ after that, we don't have to be up until two tomorrow."

"Alright," Ataru replied as he stowed away the toolbox. It'd been a couple of weeks since they had really had time to play anything.

* * *

"No, I understand," Invader repeated. "You have to worry about your own security."

He disconnected the call and sighed. Even with all their new information on Uru's plans, it was impossible to get any other planets to pledge their support. At least revealing everything had gotten the rest of the galaxy's eyes focused on Earth. If anyone seriously tried to invade it now, he was certain the others would take action. That was the best he could hope for at this point.

"Ummm, boss?"

"What is it?" Invader replied wearily. All these fruitless negotiations were starting to wear him down.

"I hate to bother you, but the computer guys have narrowed down where those unauthorized intrusions have been coming from." Jirettai paused for a moment. "It appears they are coming from that relay we've been using to talk to Earth."

"Damn," Invader cursed. "Uru must have noticed it."

"The techs aren't sure about that. They've been able to track what's been viewed, and it's all just been non-confidential stuff. Mostly just schematics of our ion and subspace engines, as well as data on advanced electronics. We can't figure why anyone on Uru would want that. They are the ones who built the fleet in the first place."

The warlord frowned. "Any ideas on who it is then?"

"We're wondering if it might be someone on Earth," Jirettai ventured.

"Do they have even the technology to do that?" Invader asked dubiously. "Everything seemed pretty primitive to me."

"We don't know," the Lt. Commander replied. "But in any case, what should we do?"

"Send a message out to that Mendou boy, see if he knows anything about it. He said he was the only one able to get communications going with the thing."

"Alright, boss," Jirettai, responded.

Invader watched him relay the message to the communications officer, then turned his attention back to gazing out the window. A security breach really wasn't something he felt like dealing with right now. It wouldn't really bother him if the Earthlings got those schematics, but it was worrisome that they might be hacking into the system. Not only did it imply that their network wasn't very secure, it also meant the Earthlings might be less trustworthy than he thought.

In any case, as a general rule giving advanced technology to less developed planets had to be handled carefully. Perhaps with the right push the Earthlings could become the valuable allies Oniboshi and Fukujin desperately needed, but even if they had the knowledge to build warships, the infrastructure just wasn't there. It would be decades before they'd be able to muster any real help.


	9. Shutaro's Decision

A message!

Shu-chan giggled. It looked like her latest project was a complete success. A message from Oniboshi had just arrived and she was receiving it perfectly, no data loss at all. She scanned through the contents quickly, as she always did before sending any messages back to Earth.

Her good mood vanished as she read. This wasn't good. It appeared that the Oni had finally figured out that she was the one playing around in their networks. It had taken them a couple of weeks, but it appeared the jig was up.

"I can't send this to Shutaro-kun," she fretted. He probably wouldn't be happy that she had been digging in other people's networks. But if she didn't let him know, then they were going to think Shutaro was ignoring them, and they might get angry.

She pondered the matter carefully. She could pretend to be Shutaro and reply to the Oniboshians herself. But if Shutaro found out that she was lying as well, he would probably be even angrier with her.

In the end she decided to just relay the Oni's message with her own explanation and hope for the best. Maybe Shutaro would help her come up with a good excuse or apology. He had been getting a lot friendlier lately. She could only hope this wouldn't mess up all the progress she had made.

After the message was sent, she started making calculations. Now that she knew she could receive messages through subspace, there was no reason for her to stay close to the remains of the cannibalized relay station. It had taken awhile, but she had successfully integrated the relay's subspace communication elements into her own frame.

That was nice addition, but the real find had been the relay's computer and power supply. After digging around the Oni databases for information on the devices, Shu-chan had begun the difficult task of painstakingly disconnecting them from the relay and adapting them into her own system. It had been worth the effort. She now had plenty of power, and her processing and memory capabilities were infinitely higher.

The only thing she regretted was that the relay hadn't been designed to move on its own. She would kill for one of the various ion engines she had learned about in her unauthorized data retrievals. It was going to take her forever to make her way back towards Earth.

* * *

Shutaro was just leaving his suite when he noticed the light flashing on the console he used to talk with Shu-chan. He wished he had noticed it earlier, but there wasn't time now to listen. He had to hurry if he was going to avoid being late for school.

He rushed out of the room and headed towards his personal helipad, where his ride should be waiting. He emerged from the mansion and was glad to see the big chopper's blades were already spinning and ready for takeoff. Shutaro sprinted the last hundred meters to the rear hatch and bolted inside. The doors closed smoothly behind him as the massive craft lifted off.

"Running late, young master?" one of his men asked politely. Shutaro nodded. He tended to walk most of the time anymore, but the helicopter was useful on days when he didn't have time. In any case it was these guys' job to be on hand if he did need them.

They arrived over the school in just a few minutes. Shutaro shrugged on his carefully packed parachute and gave the thumbs up to open the doors. He looked down at the ground far below for a moment. After so many jumps the thrill was mostly gone, but still it was always invigorating to trust his life to a piece of fabric.

He jumped and fell for a moment before deploying his parachute. His plummet immediately turned into a slow drifting descent. A few tugs on the cords here and there kept him nicely on target with the school's courtyard.

As he neared the ground a few students glanced up, but most ignored him. His aerial entrances weren't a particularly rare sight anymore. Disregarding them, Shutaro bent his knees and prepared to land.

A few minutes later he had his chute packed away and awaiting pickup by his employees. Looking at his watch as he slid into his seat, Shutaro saw that he was right on time, as always. From an early age his grandfather had stressed the importance of being punctual, and Shutaro took the lesson to heart.

He caught himself about to yawn, but managed to cover it at the last moment. He wasn't sure why he bothered trying to be gentile around here anymore. Associating with Ataru too much had ruined his classy reputation. Although he had to admit it was his own fault; more often than not he himself had contributed to the chaos that had wracked class 2-4 the year before.

Shutaro thought nostalgically about the year before. Girls had idolized him, and he was certain that the guys were all jealous of him. Now the girls were still polite to him, but he could tell they weren't interested as they had been before. The few who were seemed more attracted to his wealth than anything.

Perm entered the room slightly late, as usual. He waved at Shutaro, who merely nodded in response. The guy was nice enough, but they really didn't share enough interests to hang out together outside of school.

"Hey, Mendou," Perm whispered as he settled in the seat behind him, "how do you think you did on that test yesterday?"

"Pretty good," Shutaro replied quietly. "It really wasn't that hard."

"You think so?" Perm asked with a sheepish expression. "I thought it was pretty tough."

"How long did you study for it?"

"Not long enough I guess," Perm replied. "But no matter how hard I study, it doesn't seem like this stuff ever gets any easier."

"Do you need to borrow my notes again?" Shutaro asked politely.

"That'd be great," Perm replied. "You always take better notes than anyone else in class."

Shutaro rolled his eyes. "It's really not that difficult if you just pay attention," he replied, passing his notebook over.

Perm quickly started flipping through. "These are really detailed."

"Hurry up and copy them before fourth period," Shutaro replied.

"Thanks," Perm told him earnestly. "I'll copy it during English class."

Shutaro turned back towards the front and rolled his eyes again. Perm just didn't seem to understand the concept of paying attention in class.

* * *

"Welcome home, young master," the man stationed at the front door greeted him.

Shutaro nodded in greeting. "No disturbances," he requested as he went towards his private chambers.

"Understood, sir," the guard replied.

Shutaro almost laughed as the man left. Ryoko was complaining about being bored much too often lately. That meant his guards would have their hands full keeping out her Kuroko spies. He idly wondered how long he could keep her out of his business this time.

The flashing light on the radio setup caught his attention. He stepped over and sat down, curious to hear what Shu-chan had to say today.

"Hello, Shutaro-kun," the message started out. "I've got something important to tell you."

He frowned. The satellite seemed unusually serious today.

"First off, I hope you won't be mad, but I've always been hungry for knowledge. So I sort of poked around where I shouldn't have, and now the Oni have found out. I don't know if they are mad, but they are demanding answers. They want to know if you are the one who has been stealing data from them."

She paused for a long moment. "I know you haven't told them anything about me. I don't know what to do, and I'm hoping that you aren't too upset with me."

Shutaro groaned. All he needed was the Oni getting upset with him. There would go all his dreams of profiting off their advanced technology.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. Switching the microphone on, he fired off a question to Shu-chan. "What exactly did you download from them?"

The fifty-minute wait for a reply was agonizing. Shutaro occupied his time sharpening his sword and watching the antics of his men out in the yard. By his count the fifth Kuroko agent was being escorted from outside his chambers when the incoming message light started flashing again.

"There's a lot of information," Shu-chan replied, still sounding fearful. "I was curious about how their communications worked, and then I got interested in their subspace engines, and it just kind of ballooned from there. I've got detailed schematics of it all stored in my memory."

Shutaro grinned. He still wasn't sure how he was going to explain this to the Oni, but it sounded like Shu-chan might have obtained some very valuable information. In light of things he really couldn't be angry. She was originally a spy satellite after all; being curious was part of her programming.

* * *

It was a day later when the communications officer received a reply from Earth. He alerted the warlord and sent the message to Invader's screen.

Greetings, this is Mendou Shutaro. Let me sincerely apologize for the intrusions into your system. I have researched the matter and determined that it was caused by one of my overeager employees. He has been suitably disciplined for his unauthorized actions. I hope that you do not harbor any ill will towards the Mendou Conglomerate due to this unfortunate incident. I can guarantee that it will not happen again.

"Quite the smooth talker, isn't he?" Invader observed. The warlord shrugged. It really wasn't a big deal compared to their other concerns at the moment. And the kid was one of Lum's friends. She had eagerly vouched for Mendou's honesty when he had inquired about the matter the day before. Honestly it was good that it had been such a harmless security breach. The techs were still working on beefing up security over the incident.

"Send him a reply," he decided. "Tell him we appreciate his honesty in the matter." He paused for a moment. "Let him know that we would appreciate making sure this doesn't happen again, but it is ok for him to use any information they have obtained as long as they are extremely careful with it."

Invader considered that last order for a moment. It was frustrating that they couldn't help Earth out more. With their future so uncertain, he might as well pass on some knowledge to the fledging planet. It was the least he could do. But he had already decided against giving them any information on weapons. Without Oniboshi's careful supervision, that would be far too dangerous. But simple engines couldn't cause that much damage.

He sighed and went back to signing reports. At least that was one minor worry off his mind.

* * *

Shutaro looked over the eager throng of engineers' shoulders as more and more pages came off the printer. "Well, do you understand this stuff? Can we use it?" he asked impatiently.

One of the techs turned halfway around, a handful of pages clenched in his hand. "Do you realize this makes all of our work for the last year totally useless?" he demanded. "We've just been working off pictures and a few half-baked theories all this time, but these diagrams, they actually explain how it all works!" The tech tried to calm down. "If this information is accurate, we'll have to rethink everything."

Shutaro nodded sternly. "Well then, I'll leave you to it. Keep me informed on developments. If you can get good results, I'll see if I can divert more funds to your division."

He stepped out of the room smiling. He didn't understand any of it, but Shu-chan's information did seem very detailed. She had apparently even translated everything into Japanese for him. Even so the R&D division had a lot of work to do. He just hoped they would be able to keep everything secret from outsiders. It would be easy to argue that this information should be shared with the world, but that wouldn't result in the kind of profits the Mendou Conglomerate needed to stay on top.

At least he didn't have to worry about the Oni being angry, they had sounded oddly supportive. Still he had made Shu-chan promise not to delve into their databases anymore. She had seemed scared to tell him, and she was all too willing to promise that she wouldn't steal any more information.

He was still pondering the matter when he nearly ran headfirst into his father.

"Hello, Shutaro," his father greeted him.

"Hello," Shutaro replied politely. He tried furiously to think of a reason why his father was visiting the research and development section of the estate.

"I hear you've authorized a new research project," his father continued. "One that you've neglected to mention even to your own family."

"You gave me authority to independently oversee projects, Father," Shutaro replied smoothly. "And this isn't a new research project, I've had people working on it for well over a year now."

"Is that right?" his father asked. "It is true that you have both mine and your grandfather's permission, but it would be nice if you would at least keep us informed."

"Well, I guess it is time to tell you," Shutaro agreed. "They'll probably need a bigger budget soon anyways."

"Let's take a walk. You can tell me about your project," the elder Mendou replied, starting to stride back towards the exit. "And then we'll talk about budgets."

"Well, you remember that time that Lum crashed her UFO into the estate?" Mendou began, hurrying to catch up.

"Vaguely," his father replied hesitantly. "You covered it up at the time and didn't even tell us until it was over." He paused for a moment. "I still don't know what all went on that week."

Shutaro looked away, unwilling to divulge any more information on that little fiasco. His scheme to keep Lum from regaining her memories after the crash had turned into a real disaster, and he'd had to cover up exactly how many expenses he had wracked up trying to keep Ataru away. It wasn't exactly his proudest moment.

"Anyways," he continued hastily, "They've been working on backward engineering the her engines ever since then. I figure if we can copy them, there would be huge potential for profits."

His father looked skeptical. "Have you had any success?"

"Not too much until this week," Shutaro admitted. "But I believe they are on the edge of a big breakthrough now."

"Does this happen to have anything to do with that rogue satellite you're using to communicate with Oniboshi?"

Shutaro gave his father a look, wondering exactly how much he already knew. "Yes, actually," he replied, "we got some new information from them. The researchers seem to think they'll be able to make some real advances now."

His father abruptly smiled and slapped Shutaro on the back. "You know son, you are really shaping up to be a fine businessman. I'm sure your grandfather would be proud."

"Thank you, father," Shutaro replied. "I am trying to think ahead for the future of the family."

"But you should let your old man in on things more," his father continued. "I know I've been busy running the company, but I'm always available if you want to talk."

Shutaro nodded. It wasn't that he was really trying to keep everything secret, but until now he hadn't had high expectations of the project. If they had failed, he would have simply saved himself the embarrassment and quietly swept the whole project under the rug.

"How's Asuka-chan doing? I haven't seen her around in a while." His father asked casually.

Shutaro rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I haven't seen her in a while," he admitted.

"Oh?" his father asked. "Are things not going well between you two?"

"We haven't had any disagreements," Shutaro replied quickly.

His father nodded. "I see," he responded seriously. "Do you have reservations about the betrothal?"

Shutaro looked away. "I know you went through a lot of trouble to set it up," he replied.

His father laughed. "It was mostly the Mizunokoji clan pushing for it. I just thought it was a good chance for you to get to know a cute girl."

"So you aren't set on the idea?" Shutaro asked eagerly.

"It really doesn't matter to me who you marry," his father replied. "Your mother might be a bit disappointed, but she won't argue if you decide to break things off. We both want you to be happy."

"Right now, I just don't know," Shutaro admitted glumly. "I'm not sure we are a good match."

"I've heard that she's a little too… enamored of her brother."

"That's an understatement," Shutaro chuckled. "But yes, that is one of the bigger problems."

"Just say the word and I'll contact their family," his father assured him. "They won't hold it against us if you break things off. Even her parents know that she has issues."

"Don't say anything just yet," Shutaro told him hastily. "I'm not too sure of anything right now. And in any case I'd want to tell her myself first."

"Are there any girls you do have your eye set on?" his father asked after a moment of silence.

"Not really," Shutaro replied.

"Well, there's no rush, I suppose." His father put a hand on Shutaro's shoulder. "I need to get back to work now," he stated, "But if you want to talk more, just let me know."

"Thanks, father," Shutaro replied. He watched his father disappear into the trees with a smile. It had been a while since they had talked this much. Between school and work they rarely had the chance.

He looked around for a moment, not having paid attention to where his father had led him. It appeared he was fairly deep into a forest, but considering the size of the estate, that didn't narrow things down much. Walking back the way his father had gone for several minutes, he still didn't see an end to the trees.

"Father?" he yelled angrily. "Damn it, where the hell am I?"

* * *

"Did you have a nice walk?" his father asked at dinner.

Shutaro just glared for a moment. "It took me an hour to find my way back," he gritted out."

"It does a man good to get a little exercise once in a while." His father's face remained dead serious for a moment, then shifted slightly into a slight grin.

"You don't seem to have as many little adventures as you used to," his sister observed. "If you aren't careful you're going to get fat."

"I work out every morning," Shutaro protested. "And I spend hours training every weekend as well."

Ryoko clasped her hands together and peered up at the ceiling. "My big brother won't look after himself. Can't anyone help him?" She looked back down at him. "Maybe I should throw a party. It's been far too boring around here lately."

"Go ahead," Shutaro replied. "I won't be attending another one of your insane events. And Moroboshi is long gone, so I don't have to worry about you inviting him either."

"I could invite Tobimaru," she warned. "It's about time our relationship stepped up a bit."

"Go ahead," he replied, looking nonplussed. "I don't care anymore."

"You're so cruel," Ryoko told him, tears forming in her eyes. "My big brother doesn't even care about upholding my honor anymore." She stood suddenly and ran from the room, crying dramatically as she went.

"Shutaro, don't antagonize your sister," his father scolded. "She's a delicate girl, you know."

"No, I don't know," Shutaro replied loudly. "She's crazy. Do you know how many of her spies I've had to have removed from my room this week?"

"Seventeen," his father replied.

Shutaro looked surprised. "How did you know?" he demanded.

"I have my sources."

"You're as bad as she is," Shutaro protested. "Can't I have any privacy?"

"I wasn't spying on you," his father assured him. "Your sister told me herself how many failed attempts she's made."

"If you know that she's sending her Kuroko to spy on me, why don't you stop her?" Shutaro demanded.

"That's between you two," his father replied. "I'm staying neutral. Plus it just means she's worried about you. Maybe you should spend more time with her."

"That's not an option," Shutaro grumped. "And she's not worried, she's just nosy."

"You are so cruel, big brother!" came drifting in from the next room.

Shutaro sighed dramatically and went back to eating.

* * *

After dinner he slunk back to his chambers, making sure to lock the doors behind him. He sat down at his desk and stared at the blinking light for a couple of minutes before playing Shu-chan's latest message.

"Hi, Shutaro-kun," she started out as usual. "I wanted to thank you again for covering for me. I hope all the information I transmitted earlier will help you, it was everything I had."

She paused for a few seconds. "Anyways, now I want to hear about how your day went. We haven't talked about anything but that little incident, and I miss hearing about you. I'd tell you about myself, but nothing much happens out here."

She paused again. "Call me back soon, I'll be waiting."

Hearing her tone, Shutaro chuckled. She really did sound like a real girl sometimes. He flipped the switch on and started his own reply.

"Hey, Shu-chan, I should really be thanking you for everything. I think the data you sent us is really going to help a lot." He frowned for a moment, not sure what to say next. "You wanted to hear about my day? It was pretty boring, nothing out of the ordinary happened at school. Then this afternoon I took a long walk and that's about it."

He debated if he should continue; finally he decided it wouldn't hurt to talk about his latest worry. "I talked to father today, he said he wasn't going to force me into staying engaged to Asuka-san if I didn't want to. I'm really not sure what to do right now. I'm not sure she would even care one way or the other."

Shutaro sighed loudly. He couldn't truly say he didn't like Asuka at all, but the way things were now he couldn't see them having a future together. "I've told you all about the situation before, what do you think?" He shut off the microphone and sent the message, wondering what the satellite would say in response. It seemed smart enough.

"Who's your lady friend?"

Shutaro spun around in his seat. "Ryoko! How the hell did you get in here?" he demanded.

"Don't be so loud, big brother," Ryoko replied from her seat on the floor. "It's not very polite."

He glared at her for a moment. "I know I locked the doors."

"I picked the lock," she replied casually.

"You're impossible!" he burst out.

"Anyways," she continued, "Who were you talking to?"

"No one," he grumbled, turning back around. "Now get out."

"I'm not going anywhere until you fess up, big brother." She pouted and crossed her arms. "I know you aren't very interested in Asuka-chan. I'm not really happy with her either."

"Because she's always hanging all over her brother?" Shutaro guessed.

"That, and she's really weird," Ryoko replied. "I can't even have my Kuroko nearby without her freaking out."

"I tried my best," he retorted bitterly. "I don't know if she'll ever stop fearing men."

Ryoko shook her head. "It's not your job to fix her," she admonished. "Now quite changing the subject. Who were you talking to? Is it that satellite?"

"How do you know about that," he demanded.

"I have my ways," she told him coyly. "So I'm right then?"

"Yeah, that was her," he reluctantly admitted. "I made an agreement that if she would keep us in contact with Oniboshi, I would talk to her a bit each day."

"Why would it want to talk to you?" she asked curiously. "You aren't exactly the most exciting person around here."

"Gee, thanks, Sis," Shutaro retorted. "Honestly, I don't know."

"It's kind of weird that your satellite sounds like a girl," Ryoko observed. "Was that your idea?"

"No," he answered vehemently. "It wasn't supposed to have a voice at all." He looked down for a moment. "It wasn't supposed to be intelligent either, all it was supposed to do was observe Tomobiki for me."

"I think she likes you," Ryoko teased. She stood up and started towards the door. "My poor big brother, the only one girls he can get aren't even real."

Shutaro glared at sister's back. "I can get any girl I want," he declared.

"If you say so," she replied as she left the room.

Shutaro stalked over the locked it again. Ryoko was nothing if not infuriating.

* * *

Shu-chan considered Shutaro's question carefully. This was the first time he had asked her advice, and she didn't want to mess it up. Over the last couple weeks he had explained exactly why his relationship with Asuka made him unhappy. They didn't appear to share any interests, he couldn't take her out anywhere, and she had an unhealthy fixation on her brother.

On the other hand, Shutaro had expressed feeling attracted to Asuka, and he had been trying very hard to make things work between them. Also he had explained that their union would help strengthen the Mendou Conglomerate in the future.

"Shutaro-kun," she finally began, "this is a really hard question for me. I want to give you the best advice, but even though you have given me a lot of details on how you feel, I still have trouble understanding relationships well enough to answer."

She paused, unwilling to not give him at least some sort of opinion. "I think you should do what will make you happy," she concluded. "I can't tell you what that is, but I'm sure that you will be able to figure that out on your own."


	10. The Arrival

Ryuunosuke groaned. She didn't know how she was supposed to pass her upcoming exams when her father kept dragging her out to the beach every weekend. He was insistent that they leave as soon as school was out on Fridays so that they could have their small stand set up for the weekend. The fact that it was still too early for anyone to be on the beach didn't appear to faze him.

Speaking of the old fool, it sounded like he was back. She raised her head from her algebra book and spied him jogging across the sand towards her.

"Ryuunosuke, why aren't you watching the shop?" he asked angrily. "What if we'd had a customer while I was gone?"

"We haven't had a customer all weekend, Pop," she replied. "You're an idiot for thinking we would."

"Is that any way to speak to your father?" he growled, raising a fist.

"When your father's an idiot, then yeah!" she replied, shutting her book. "I can't even study because of you."

"What do you need to study those books for?" he demanded. "You need to be studying useful things, like how to crush ice just so, or how to make the perfect beach shop ramen!"

"For the last time, I don't want to work in your cruddy old tea-shop my whole life," she spat out.

He crossed the distance between them in a second. "I dare you to call the Hamajaya cruddy again!" he yelled in her face. "My grandfather built this place himself with his sweat and tears! How dare you insult his craftsmanship!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryuunosuke yelled back. "You told me yourself that his shop was destroyed by a typhoon when you were five! And we went through two more shops before we moved to Tomobiki!" She gestured at their small stand. "Look what we're reduced to now!"

"This is just the portable Hamajaya!" he protested, looking at it proudly. "And the Hamajaya is the Hamajaya, no matter the time or the place!"

"You don't make any sense, old man," she replied.

"What kind of son are you, insulting your heritage?" Mr. Fujinami demanded.

"I'm not your son!" she screamed back. "God, I hate you so much!" Grabbing her book, she ran off across the beach, desperate to get away from her idiot father. His voice rang out plaintively behind her. He was calling out to her deceased mother, no doubt.

She kept running until she felt like her legs were about to give out beneath her. Flopping down in the sand, she stared out across the sea at the endless waves. It seemed like all of her life she had been staring at this same boring ocean. It was in constant motion, but nothing ever changed. It really was the same as her father.

Trying to take her mind off of her dismal life, she opened her book up and started studying again. Monday they had another mock exam, and her results on past tests had been less than satisfactory. Onsen-Mark-Sensei had been doing his best the past few months to give her extra tutoring after class, but it still wasn't enough.

After she had been reading for a long while, she glared at the dark page irritably as a shadow fell over her, blocking out the quickly fading sunlight. She peered upwards and caught sight of a tiger-striped ship slowly passing by overhead. For a moment excitement gripped her. Lum and Moroboshi must have finally come back.

Then she realized that this ship appeared to be a good bit larger than Lum's had been. She didn't recall it having such an oblong shape either.

The ship headed inland silently, heading roughly in the direction of Tomobiki. Ryuunosuke watched until it had passed out of sight behind the mountains. The last time the Oni had invaded, they had stayed in orbit. To the best of her knowledge none of their ships had ever been seen flying this low.

She stood up slowly and worriedly clasped her book to her chest. Mendou had mentioned to Shinobu a few weeks back that the group who had tried to invade Earth was still prowling around the solar system. She started jogging back down the beach towards her father, hoping he would have some idea what to do.

* * *

"Why should we care?" Mr. Fujinami asked grumpily. "They aren't bothering the sea, are they? They didn't land on the beach and start stealing the sand, did they?"

Ryuunosuke glared needles at him. "If there's an invasion, we won't have any customers," she reminded him angrily.

"Even invaders need beachfront tea shops," he replied, looking up at the stars begining to shine in the sky.

"Stop being such an idiot," she replied. "They were probably heading for Tomobiki. How are you ever going to get enough money to rebuild the Hamajaya if the school gets destroyed?"

His confident face fell a bit. "That is true," Mr. Fujinami mused. "Ok, let's get the place packed up and go tell someone."

She looked at the empty cart and the fully stocked stand. "That'll take a couple of hours," she whined. "Can't we just leave it? No one's going to bother anything way out here."

"You would desert our beloved shop just like that?" he asked incredulously. "You shame me, Ryuunosuke."

"You have no right to talk about shame!" she insisted as she started packing up crates. "Now stop talking and start packing."

* * *

The ringing phone near his head jolted Shutaro out of a sound sleep. Checking the clock, he saw that it was a bit past midnight. He wondered angrily what could possibly be important enough to bother with at this time of night.

"Hello?" he answered sleepily.

"Is that you, Mendou?" a female voice demanded. It took him a second to recognize that it was Ryuunosuke.

"Yes, it is me," he replied, holding back a yawn. If this wasn't important, he was going to have someone's neck for forwarding a call this late at night.

"You've got some way to talk to those Oni, right?" she demanded. "I heard from Shinobu that you did."

Shutaro blinked. "Yes, I do communicate with them on occasion," he confirmed. "Why?"

"Did they send a spaceship to earth?" she asked. "I saw one heading towards Tomobiki a few hours ago."

He shook his head. From what they had told him, there were still enough patrols out there that they couldn't risk something like that. "I really doubt it," he replied. "Are you out on some beach?"

"Yeah, we're a bit up from Shizuoka," she replied. It's a pretty quiet area."

"What did the ship look like?" he asked next.

"It looked a lot like Lum's new saucer," she replied. "It was colored the same, but it was a little bigger and shaped more like an egg."

He thought for a moment. That didn't sound like one of the big angular warships they had seen orbiting the planet a few months ago. Maybe it was some sort of scout ship."

"Alright," he replied. "Do you have any more details?"

"No, that was it," she told him. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm not sure yet," he admitted. "Thanks, Ryuunosuke-san, I appreciate you telling me."

"No problem," she replied. "I'm going to bed then. It took us over an hour just to get to this crappy little town."

The phone went dead in his hand. Shutaro stared at it for a moment, wondering what he was going to do. He stumbled out of bed and looked dubiously at the radio he used to communicate with Shu-chan. Invader had recommended not using the relay if the Uruseins returned, but he had been thinking more along the lines of a full-scale invasion. Of course right now Shutaro had no idea whether that was the case or not.

Finally he decided to take the chance. Picking up the microphone, he started recording. "Hey Shu-chan, I need you to forward a message for me. Ask if they have sent any ships to Earth. An egg shaped tiger-striped one was sighted heading this way a few hours ago. Size was a bit bigger than Lum's ship."

He sent the message, hoping no one would pick up on the transmission. They used an encrypted channel, but he had no illusions that it couldn't be broken.

Once the message was sent, he went back to his phone and called the command center. "We may have an emergency," he told the night shift supervisor. "I want everyone ready as soon as possible. Jets on the runways, helicopters ready, the full works. I'll be down there in about an hour."

He hung up the phone as soon as the supervisor gave his affirmation. Now he just had to wait for an answer from Oniboshi. Glancing at his bed, Shutaro considered lying back down for a little while, but decided against it. He needed to be fully alert to handle the situation.

The wait seemed like forever, but finally the light on the radio started flashing. Shutaro hastily hit the play button and Shu-chan's voice started ringing out.

"Hi, Shutaro-kun," she greeted him. "I got a response already. They said no, and that it was probably some kind of scout ship."

He sent one last reply back. "Blackout," was all he said. She knew what that meant, not to transmit any more replies to anyone until he contacted her again. It was his best idea for keeping the satellite undetected in case someone managed to trace her signal.

Grabbing his sword, Shutaro started towards the command center. Even a scout ship could be pretty dangerous. And if they were scouting around, that meant it was likely that something bigger was about to start. He didn't intend to just sit around let that happen.

* * *

"So there's nothing unexplained on radar?" Shutaro confirmed.

"We've got access to radar coverage for seven hundred miles around," the command center's supervisor confirmed, "But we usually only scan a ten mile radius around the estate. If anything was out there earlier, we wouldn't have picked it up."

Shutaro nodded. He knew they had been able to track Lum's ship with ease, but then again it hadn't been a military vessel. And even her ship had some sort of visibility cloaking device, though she had rarely used it.

"Send out recon planes on the route between Shizuoka and here," he directed. "Have them scan for anything abnormal, especially magnetic anomalies.

Only a few minutes after he gave the order, he watched on the main screen as a wing of E-2C Hawkeyes started off towards the East. They were a fairly recent addition to the Mendou Clan's private air force, and one that he had lobbied hard for.

His persistence paid off. It was less than two hours later when one of the planes reported an area with an unusually strong magnetic field about fifteen miles south of Tomobiki. Shutaro gave the order for all planes to return immediately. Now that he knew where the ship was, it was time to see what they wanted.

* * *

Invader looked at the latest report glumly. He had figured it was just a matter of time before Uru started nosing around Earth again. But after a month of trying to convince other planets of the danger of leaving the planet unguarded, he still hadn't been able to get any results. If Uru sent in a full invasionary force again, several planets had hinted that they might take action, but no one was going to do anything until then.

"What did you tell Mendou?" he asked.

Jirettai shook his head. "I just confirmed it wasn't one of ours, and that it was probably a scout ship."

"I hope he doesn't do anything stupid," Invader replied. "If they piss off Uru, his little private army won't be worth anything. Send another message and tell him that he should just try to ignore them."

The communications officer shook his head. "The relay isn't responding anymore," he informed the warlord.

Invader looked troubled. "They must have found it," he replied. So much for that run of good luck. But at least they knew that Uru was on the move again. He just hoped the Earthlings wouldn't make any fatal mistakes.

* * *

The reconnaissance team returned to Shutaro's makeshift field camp soon after first light. Shutaro had sent in just a few men to confirm the ship's location, figuring land or air vehicles would be easily spotted. Hopefully they had gone unnoticed by the aliens.

The team's leader stepped up and saluted smartly. "Sir, we found the ship. It's landed in a small field about a mile south. There were a few Oni, maybe nine or ten, wondering around outside, but I don't believe they spotted us."

Shutaro nodded. "Were they carrying weapons?" he asked.

"A couple had what appeared to be rifles," the leader replied. "The others had various handheld devices that we couldn't identify. Most of them didn't appear to be military, but I can't say for sure."

Shutaro thanked the officer and went back into the command tent to think over his next move. He undoubtedly had the Oni outnumbered and likely outgunned, but they could likely call on reinforcements fairly quickly. He really didn't want to turn this into an interplanetary incident, but then again these people had tried to invade the planet before.

He glanced outside at his beloved Leopard tank. It was far from the most advanced tank present, but he still preferred the older vehicle. Hopefully it wouldn't even be needed today, but it was comforting to have it on hand.

"Ok," he finally decided. "I'll lead a small group in myself. I don't want anyone carrying weapons though."

"Young master, isn't that too risky?" the troop commander protested.

"I didn't say that we will be the only ones going," Shutaro replied. "I want snipers covering us the whole time. And everyone else should be ready to move in if things go wrong."

"Understood," the commander replied. "We'll cover you as close as we can."

"Just make sure you stay out of sight," Shutaro told him. "I don't want this to turn ugly if it doesn't have to."

The commander saluted and went out to prepare the troops. Shutaro watched them for a moment before setting his sword carefully down on a chair. Once he would have just rushed in with a heavy show of force, but now he wasn't sure enough of the situation. They'd try the peaceful approach first, and see what happened.

* * *

Shutaro approached the clearing slowly, about fifteen troops following close behind. If they'd had their way, he would be in the rear, but being on the frontline was the only honorable way to do this. The ship soon came into sight through the trees. A few oni were scurrying around outside, but he couldn't tell what they were doing.

He decided that they might as well get this over with. He strode calmly into the clearing, his men standing in neat rows behind him. It was a moment or two before any of the aliens noticed him. One oni eventually spied the group and ran back towards the ship, yelling in what Shutaro assumed was their native language.

Their response was immediate. A trio of armed men emerged and pointed their rifles at Shutaro.

"What are you doing here?" one of the oni guards demanded in heavily accented Japanese. "This area is off limits to Earthlings."

Shutaro stared defiantly at the alien. "This land happens to be owned by the Mendou Conglomerate," he replied. Part of it actually hadn't been theirs, but he had quickly purchased the remainder before setting out. The Japanese government had been a bit touchy lately about the Mendou private army operating outside of their private property.

"If you value your lives, you will back away and mind your own business," the oni snarled back.

Shutaro sighed. "I don't think you understand," he replied. "This land belongs to me, and I want to know what you are doing here."

"You stupid Earthling," the guard replied. "We are here on a mission from Uru. We can go wherever we like. You animals should just go home and forget you ever saw us."

"Is that so?" Shutaro responded, starting to get more than a little annoyed by the alien's condescending attitude. Patience had never been his strong point.

"Go on," the oni continued. "Scurry on home."

Shutaro looked the ship over. It had several gun turrets visible now; he was certain they hadn't been there a moment ago. He noticed that there was something odd going on underneath as well. It looked almost like the bottom of the ship had dropped down and embedded itself into the ground.

"You are going to tell me what you are doing," Shutaro said, interrupting the guard's continuous insults. He hadn't understand all the details that Invader had explained about Uru's plans, but he could see they were definitely up to something here.

"I've had enough of your insolence," the guard snarled, raising his rifle up to his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that," Shutaro replied casually. "If we get hurt, none of you are going to leave her alive."

The guard smiled and aimed his rifle at Shutaro's head. "I'm sick of hearing your mewing, boy."

His finger didn't get close to pulling the trigger. A volley of shots rang out from around the edges of the clearing and the three oni dropped to the ground motionless.

Shutaro cursed as he ran the short distance back towards the cover of the trees. He'd really had hoped this would end peacefully, but that didn't seem possible now.

He dropped to the ground as soon as he was under cover, expecting the ship's guns to open fire at any moment. He heard the rumble of tanks smashing through the trees behind him and hoped they would have enough sense to stay back.

Oddly enough the ship's guns were still silent. Come to think of it, the entire clearing was eerily quiet. He figured that the rest of the oni must have fled inside while his group had dove for cover.

The commander crept low to the ground over to Shutaro's position. "Sir, what are your orders?"

Shutaro thought for a moment. If they opened fire on the ship, they might never find out what the oni were up to. On the other hand capturing the ship was likely to be a costly battle.

The decision was made for him as the turrets along the side of the ship suddenly opened fire in all directions. Trees started falling on all sides, ripped in half by the aliens' powerful lasers.

"Pull everyone back," Shutaro yelled. "We'll hit them from a distance."

The commander barked out orders over his radio and the troops began abandoning their positions around the clearing. Shutaro didn't move, intending to stay until everyone was safely back.

"Come on, young master," the commander urged him. "You need to get out of here."

Shutaro shook his head. "Not yet," he replied stubbornly.

The commander, a burly middle-aged man, gave Shutaro an exasperated look and wrapped his arms around his employer. "I've got orders to keep you safe," he explained as he started running, not seeming to notice Shutaro's added weight. "I pledge an oath to your father ten years ago, and I'm not about to fail him now."

Shutaro glared at the officer. "Fine, put me down," he ordered.

The man unceremoniously dropped him on the forest floor. "Sorry, sir," he apologized.

Shutaro climbed painfully back to his feet. "It's fine," he grunted. "Let's just get back to camp.

* * *

Five of his men didn't return to camp. To Shutaro's knowledge this was the first time the highly skilled private army had lost any soldiers in combat. It was a shameful and heavy burden on his young shoulders, and he dreaded having to inform his father of their disastrous mission.

The question was what to do now. An air strike was their best bet, but it was highly possible that the ship was shielded in some way. It was also likely that they would see any air attack coming from miles away.

"Send in the unmanned tank," he finally commanded. "See if they can do some damage on that thing." They only had one, and it was just a prototype, never before tested under actual combat conditions. But all he needed it to do was go forward and test out the oni's defenses.

The commander gave the order and the tank slowly lurched forward along the path they had cleared earlier. Twenty long minutes passed before the tank operator announced that the tank was nearing the ship's position.

Shutaro stared over the man's shoulder as the tank rumbled to a stop just inside the edge of the trees. The clearing was noticeably wider now, much of the surrounding forest having been razed to the ground by the ship's earlier volleys.

"Go ahead and fire," Shutaro ordered grimly. These damn aliens were going to pay for attacking his men.

The camera's view rocked back violently from the recoil of the tank's main gun. A billow of smoke erupted as the shell impacted with the ship, obscuring the camera.

"Direct hit," the operator confirmed. His smile faded as the smoke cleared, revealing that the ship hadn't been affected by the blast. A second later the picture went white and cut off. The operator frantically checked several sensor readouts before declaring that the tank was kaput.

"Damn it," Shutaro cursed. It looked like they were going to have to use the heavy stuff after all. "Call in the bombers," he ordered. "Tell them to stay as high as possible."

* * *

Night fell swiftly on the Mendou estate. Just having arrived home, Shutaro stood numbly in front of his father as the elder man read through the battle reports.

"We lost three B-52's today," his father noted calmly. "You know that we weren't even supposed to have those, don't you? They violate Japan's constitution. We had to have them shipped in secretly, piece by piece."

Shutaro nodded miserably. Even at high altitude the oni ship didn't seem to have any trouble picking the planes off.

"That's not important though," his father continued more passionately. "We lost sixteen men today. That's not just a number, that's sixteen men who won't be returning to their wives and children."

"I'm aware of that," Shutaro snapped. "We did everything we could to retrieve survivors."

"Didn't Lum's father recommend that we lay low in case Uru's forces returned?" his father demanded. He turned away, the report clenched tightly in his fist. "Instead you charged right in even without knowing the enemies capabilities. You didn't even manage to dent the thing, did you?"

"No sir," Shutaro admitted glumly. At this point it was doubtful anything short of a nuclear blast could penetrate that ship's hull.

His father sighed. "I wish you had talked to me before dragging us into this mess," he said softly. Turning back around, he put a comforting hand on Shutaro's shoulder. "Shutaro, I understand why you did what you did, but you've still put the family in a very dangerous situation. I think it would be best if I took away your command privileges."

Shutaro nodded. He hadn't expected anything less after such a colossal failure.

His father frowned. "I'll have to report everything to the government," he continued. "Of course I'm going to leave out some details, they don't need to know exactly what kind of equipment we lost. Maybe they can deal with the problem themselves, and we can just stay out of it." He looked at Shutaro sadly. "Why don't you go on to bed, son?" he said firmly.

"Alright, father," Shutaro replied. "I am sorry that I have disappointed you."

He headed for his chambers without another word. The elder Mendou considered going after him, but the boy really needed to learn that there were consequences for such rash actions.

* * *

Shu-chan floated silently through the darkness. The Oni had been hailing her for hours, but she wasn't going to respond until Shutaro told her it was ok. Having complete control over the subspace transmitter was nice; before she had salvaged it, the thing would have automatically responded to their requests. She wasn't sure if subspace messages could be traced like normal radio waves could, but she wasn't taking any chances.

For the millionth time she cursed her slow speed. If she was back in Earth's orbit she could see what was going on for herself. From this far away there wasn't anything she could see or do. And now she didn't have anyone to talk to. It was surprising how much she had grown to anticipate her daily conversations with Shutaro-kun.


	11. Lum's Secret

Lum was just coming inside for a drink when she noticed that they had an incoming call. She switched on the viewscreen and was surprised to see her father on the line.

"Hi, Dad," she greeted him warily.

"Hey, Lum," Invader replied. "How are you doing?"

"I'm ok," she answered. "We're in the middle of a job right now." She wondered idly if her mother had spoken to him, even though Lum had asked her to not say anything.

"Sorry to bother you," he replied, "But I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"You know that Mendou boy pretty well, right?" Invader asked hesitantly.

"Shutaro? Of course, we used to hang out with him all the time," Lum replied, wondering where this was going.

"Would you say that he's likely to make rash decisions?"

Lum thought about it for a moment. "I guess when he gets mad," she replied. "Ataru used to get him riled up constantly. Half the time without even trying."

Invader nodded, looking worried. "Alright," he replied. "Thanks Lum, that's all I needed."

"Hold on," she interjected. "What's going on?"

"Hopefully nothing," her father replied. "But we lost contact with Earth right after he mentioned a Urusien scout ship somewhere near Tomobiki."

Lum frowned. "There's nothing we can do, is there?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not a thing," he replied sadly. "If I left Oniboshi unguarded, Uru would be here in a second. We'll just have to hope the Earthlings don't do anything stupid."

She nodded. "Ok," she replied.

Her father looked down. "Sorry, kid." The screen went dark, leaving Lum alone with her new worries.

She quickly got her drink and sat down for a moment, wondering if she should bother Ataru with the news. There wasn't a thing he could do except worry. On the other hand, she hated keeping secrets from him. It was already hard enough keeping one.

After thinking it over for a few minutes, she rejoined her husband outside. She really didn't need to be worrying about this right now.

He looked up at her quizzically. "Are you ok?" he asked. "You took forever in there."

"Sorry, Darling. My father just called," she explained. "There might be some trouble on Earth, but he doesn't know anything for sure yet."

He went back to tightening a stubborn bolt. "Is that right?" he replied in a resigned tone. "What now?"

"Some scout ship was nosing around Tomobiki, and then Dad lost contact with them."

Ataru didn't look up. "What does he think happened?"

"It didn't sound like he knew," Lum replied. She picked up her own wrench and started working on replacing another panel. "He was asking about Shutaro for some reason though."

"Mendou?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "I guess he's worried that they might start something."

"Mendou probably would," Ataru sighed. He looked up at her with a tight smile. "Well, nothing I can do about it. Let's just get this engine running again."

"Aren't you worried?" she asked cautiously.

"Of course I am," he replied irritably. "We've got a lot of friends back there. But what's worrying going to accomplish?"

"Nothing, I guess," Lum admitted. She fell silent, hoping that Darling was finally learning to cope with things better. "Darling," she started again.

"I'd rather not talk anymore about it," he interrupted.

She fell quiet. She hadn't been going to say any more about Earth, but it still probably wasn't the best time for what she had been about to say.

"Sorry, Lum," he apologized a few minutes later. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

She gave him a warm smile. "You didn't really snap," she told him. "It's ok."

He looked relieved that she wasn't angry. He was silent for a few more minutes before he spoke up once more. "What's for dinner tonight?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," she lied. "Why don't we go out to eat for once."

That's fine," he replied. A small restaurant had finally reopened near the spaceport, and it wasn't that far away. The Neptunians who ran the place seemed to enjoy it when the two visited, so they always got a warm welcome.

* * *

The two had just left the restaurant and started back towards home when Ataru got an itch to do something different.

"Hey, Lum?" he called out softly.

She noticed he wasn't at her side anymore and looked back questioningly. "What is it?"

"Do you mind if we don't go home just yet?" he asked hesitantly.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked, looking slightly confused. Everything nearby was already closed. They had ended up working later than usual and had been lucky that the restaurant was still open.

"No where in particular," he replied idly. "It's a nice night out. Seems like a shame not to enjoy it a bit."

"Ok," she answered. Truthfully she was a bit tired, but she'd stay out all night if Darling wanted to.

Ataru strode forward and took her arm. "It seems like we work so much lately that we don't have time to just relax."

"I know what you mean," Lum replied. She hid a small yawn and leaned against his arm. "But at least we're making money."

"That's true," Ataru sighed. He started heading away from their usual path home, out into the massive fields that surrounded the spaceport. "It's not like we'd have much time if we were back on Earth either," he mused. "College entrance exams would be coming up, and we'd both be studying all the time."

"I know," Lum agreed. "But we'd still get to see our friends every day. It wouldn't be that bad."

"That's also true," Ataru replied, clasping his hands behind his head.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Ataru spoke up again. "I really miss how we could just do whatever we wanted and not worry about it."

"Like chase girls around?" Lum asked dryly.

"No," Ataru denied. "I wasn't even thinking about that."

"I'll bet," she replied. "It was nice to just live day to day like that though. But I guess it's all part of growing up."

"Sometimes I wish I could be a kid again," Ataru commented idly.

"Wouldn't you miss being with me?" she asked seriously.

"You could be a kid too," he told her with a silly smile on his face.

"I do wish I'd met you sooner," Lum mused. "You were a cute little kid."

"I'm not cute now?"

"You're my handsome Darling," she replied softly.

"If you say so," he said happily. After Lum didn't reply for a few minutes, he shot a worried glance at her. "Everything ok?" he asked.

She looked up at him with tears brimming in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," she told him brightly.

Ataru stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong?" he asked seriously.

"Nothing," she replied, looking nervous. "Why?"

"You look like you're about to cry," he replied.

She swiped at her eyes with the side of her arm. "Sorry, Darling, I guess I'm just tired."

"You should have said something," he chided her. "I wouldn't have dragged you all the way out here."

She smiled wearily. "That's ok," she told him. "This is nice."

He peered at her closely in the moonlight. "You're sure you're ok?"

"Yeah," Lum insisted. "I guess the day's just catching up to me."

Ataru offered his arm to her. "Here, you can lean on me until we get home."

"We don't have to go home right now," Lum protested. "It really is a nice night out." She looked plaintively at him. "Could we maybe just sit down for a bit?"

"Sure," Ataru replied, looking a bit worried. He hurriedly sat down in the grass cross-legged and watched as Lum immediately nestled down at his side. His wife was rarely this low on energy. "I can carry you back if you need me to," he insisted.

Lum kept her head down. "I'm fine, Darling," she replied.

Ataru's brow furrowed as the minutes ticked on and Lum remained quietly pressed against his side.

The silence quickly began getting on his nerves. "Lum, are you asleep?" he asked softly.

"No," she replied after a moment. "Just thinking."

"About what?" he asked curiously.

She didn't look up. "Nothing much," she told him quietly. "Just about us."

That didn't sound promising. "What about us?" he asked cautiously.

"Do you remember our first real date?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Of course I do."

"I remember you wanted me to look like an Earth girl," Lum murmured.

Ataru scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "I just wanted to go out like a normal couple."

She flinched at his last words. "We really aren't a normal couple, are we?" she asked sadly.

"That's not what I meant," he protested. "I just didn't want everyone staring at us all day." He lightly tapped a finger on the tip of one of her horns. "You have to admit that these made you stand out a bit."

"I wish that I had been born an Earthling," Lum whispered.

Ataru looked down. "I like you just the way you are," he muttered. "Your horns are really cute."

"I've caused you all sorts of problems," she continued in a low voice. "I didn't know how to cook, and I kept zapping you, and-"

"Stop that," he interrupted her. "None of that is important." He cupped a hand under her chin and forced her look up. It was distressing to see her eyes tearing up again.

"Hey, come on, Lum," he told her weakly. "Don't be like that."

"I'm sorry, Darling," she said, looking down again. "I think we should go on home now."

Ataru looked confused. "I don't understand why you're getting so upset," he muttered as he stood up. He offered her his hand, but she rose into the air without assistance.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I really need to go lie down."

He watched silently as she flew off into the night, leaving him alone. "What the hell was that?" he complained to himself as he started stomping back towards their UFO.

* * *

Lum squeezed her eyes tightly shut as soon as she heard the hatch open. It had taken Darling a while to walk back. He was probably pretty angry now. She had hated leaving him like that, but she knew she wouldn't have been able to keep her composure much longer.

It had been so tempting to just go ahead and tell him, but she just couldn't do it. Despite his easygoing nature, Darling was more than a bit prone to bouts of depression and anger. She couldn't put this burden on his shoulders just yet. It wasn't like he could do anything about it.

A few minutes later she heard footsteps enter the bedroom and bit her lower lip, hoping that Darling wouldn't try to wake her up. She listened to him change and felt the bed shift as he climbed in next to her. She felt him lean over, but to her relief he merely looked at her.

After a moment he laid down. She waited silently for nearly a half hour before his breathing became regular. Only then did she open her eyes. She hadn't been lying about being tired, but that didn't mean she could sleep right now.

* * *

Ataru futilely tried to wipe some of the sweat off his forehead. It was even hotter today than the previous day had been. He glared angrily at the small car's engine for a moment. This might not be a big job, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed having to do it alone.

He'd woken up that morning to an empty saucer. Lum had left breakfast on the table, along with a brief note. She'd first apologized for the night before, then informed him that she wasn't feeling well and was going to be spending the day at her mother's.

He finished putting the last part back together, then slammed the access panel shut. His customer, a petite oni girl, watched timidly as he finished up. She'd hoped to meet Princess Lum while getting her engine repaired, but instead had just gotten her cranky mechanic husband.

Ataru noticed the girl's expression and cursed his grumpy behavior. Driving away customers certainly wasn't a good idea on a planet with such a small population. More importantly he had a deep dislike of upsetting women.

Wiping his hands off carefully, he approached the girl with his disarmingly goofy grin. "Well, I'm done," he said happily.

The girl appeared somewhat relieved by his more pleasant demeanor. He took a small discount off out of guilt for his earlier behavior, and she happily paid and went on her way. Hopefully now she wouldn't go off and complain to her friends.

He watched the dust trail for a few minutes as the car skimmed off across the dry landscape. That was the last job scheduled for today. At least Lum had picked a slow day to take off.

Honestly the fact that she had left didn't bother him. It was more the feeling that she was flat out avoiding him. Lum knew if she weren't feeling well that he would have looked after her.

He had spent the morning trying to figure out what he had done to upset her, but was still coming up blank. In hindsight he realized that Lum had been acting funny for a couple of days, ever since she had returned from a shopping trip with her mother. Up until last night she'd been a little quieter than usual, but nothing serious.

He thought about calling his mother-in-law, but with Lum over there it was unlikely he'd be able to get any help from that direction. Ran wasn't an option either. The two hadn't been speaking for a couple of weeks over some petty argument.

Hefting his toolbox, Ataru retreated back inside, eager to escape the blazing heat. He stowed his tools away, then sunk down wearily on the couch. It seemed unbearably quiet without Lum. He flipped on the television and flipped through the channels for a while, but nothing caught his interest.

Finally getting fed up, he stalked over to the communications console and made the call.

Ten's face promptly appeared on the screen. "Hi, Ataru." The munchkin didn't look very happy.

"Hey, Jariten," Ataru greeted him. "Is Lum there?"

Ten looked off to the side of the screen for a second before answering. "She's here, but she's sleeping right now," he replied hesitantly.

"Is she sick or what?" Ataru asked worriedly.

Ten shrugged. "I guess so," he replied.

"What's that mean?"

The oni boy glanced around warily before continuing in a whisper. "She's acting all depressed. Did you have a fight or something?"

Ataru frowned. "I don't think so," he replied slowly.

Lum's mother abruptly appeared and nudged Ten off to the side. She smiled apologetically at Ataru, then made a sleeping gesture with her hands. She smiled once more, then cut the connection.

Ataru stared at the screen for a several seconds, getting more and more angry. "What the hell was that?" he finally exploded. He glared over at the navigation console, heavily considering flying over there and finding out what was going on.

In the end he just ended up collapsing back on the couch. Lum obviously didn't want to see him right now. She wouldn't have left so early otherwise. And as friendly as Lum's mother had looked, he had the distinct impression that she had been eager to get rid of him as well.

Ataru didn't know how long he stayed on the couch, but it was long enough for it to get dark outside. The growling of his stomach eventually convinced him to get up and stumble into the kitchen.

He peered into the fridge, not surprised that there wasn't much food inside. They had been planning to go shopping that evening after work. He thought about going himself, but decided against it. Instead he just worked with what he had and made a simple meal for himself.

After a lonely meal by himself, Ataru looked at the viewscreen for a moment, wondering if he should try calling back again. Ultimately he decided against it. He hadn't done anything wrong. If Lum was mad about something then she could just stew over it until she was ready to come back.

* * *

Lum stared pensively into the darkness through the window of her old room. She heard the door open, but didn't turn around.

"_I see you're awake_," her mother said quietly. "_Are you feeling any better now_?"

"A little," Lum replied. "I didn't sleep much last night."

"_You still haven't told Ataru, have you_?" Her mother gave her a disapproving glance. "_He called earlier looking for you. He looked really worried_."

Lum nodded. "_I know_," she said softly. _"I should have told him last night, but I just couldn't_."

"_The longer you wait, the more it's going to upset him_," her mother admonished. "_And you're worrying yourself sick over it. That's even more dangerous, Lum_."

"You think I don't know that?" Lum muttered irritably.

"_Then stop moping around and go tell him_," her mother insisted. "_I'll give you a ride home_."

"I just don't know how he's going to react," Lum protested.

"_You won't know until you get it over with_."

"I know," Lum conceded.

Mrs. Invader put her hands on her hips. "_Come on, get dressed. I'll bet Ataru will be really happy to see you_."

Lum had her doubts about that, but kept silent. If she knew Darling, he was probably in a bad mood. And once they talked it was likely going to get worse.

* * *

The sound of the door unlocking stirred Ataru from his nap. He peered cautiously over the back of the couch and saw Lum's figure silhouetted by the moonlight. She waved to someone outside before closing the door.

Ataru pushed his irritation down. If Lum was really sick, then he didn't want to upset her.

"Hey," he called out as she passed stealthily by him in the dark.

She jumped slightly. "Darling!" she cried out, obviously startled.

He got up and fumbled for a light switch. "How are you feeling?" he asked in as neutral a voice as he could manage.

Lum looked at him for a moment, trying to gauge his mood but failing. "I'm feeling better than I was," she replied, settling down carefully on the couch. "I'm sorry that I just left like that."

Ataru looked down at the floor. "Did you catch some kind of bug?" he asked tentatively.

Lum shook her head. "No, I'm not sick," she replied. "I was just really tired."

"Oh," Ataru replied. "You could have slept here, you know."

"I know," she murmured.

Ataru sighed. It looked like she was still in a weird mood. "It's pretty late," he commented, looking at his watch. "I guess I'm going to bed now."

"Darling?" Lum called out to him in a wavering voice.

Ataru stopped short of the bedroom and waited patiently for her to continue.

"We need to talk," she said in a slightly more confident tone. "Could you come sit with me?"

He frowned as he settled back down beside her. "What is it?" he asked calmly. He'd rarely seen Lum looking so nervous before, and his agitation was quickly turning to concern.

It was a minute or two before she worked up the nerve to speak again. "Darling, I'm pregnant," she finally told him in a calm voice.

Ataru's eyes widened as his body stiffened. "You aren't joking, are you?" he asked cautiously. From the way she was acting, he already knew the answer.

"No," Lum replied. "I went to the doctor the other day, and she confirmed it."

Ataru sat there dumbfounded for a second, not sure what to say. "I thought you were on birth control," he managed to stammer.

"It's never been completely effective," she explained, her voice begining to falter. "The doctor said it was somewhat rare, but oni with an electrical affinity like me have a much higher chance of it failing because my hormone levels are more unstable." She kept her eyes firmly on the floor. "I didn't know anything about that."

His mind whirling, Ataru instinctively reached for her hand. "How far along are you?" he asked.

She sniffled. "Almost two months."

Ataru put a comforting arm around her shoulders and desperately tried to think. They weren't hurting for money anymore, not as long as business stayed steady, so it wasn't a problem from that perspective. He couldn't say he was ready for something like this, but then again there wasn't much alternative.

"How come you didn't say anything the other day?" he asked hesitantly.

Lum didn't look up. "The doctor said the baby might not make it," she whispered. "She said there might be too many differences between earthlings and oni for it to survive."

Ataru blinked. It wasn't something he'd ever considered, but that it made sense. "Is that right?" he asked softly. "What kind of odds did they give you?"

"She didn't know," Lum choked out. "She said everything seemed normal so far, but there was no telling if I'd be able to carry to full term."

He nodded absently. This was the first time they'd ever dealt with Earthlings, he supposed. Even with all the data the oni had gathered from Earth, they probably didn't have much to go on.

"I guess we'll just have to hope for the best then," Ataru decided as he clasped her hands between his own.

Lum looked up at him, her eyes wide. "You still think we should go through with it?" she asked urgently.

Ataru nodded. "You want to, don't you?" he replied, hoping he hadn't misread her.

Lum threw her arms around his middle and buried her face against his chest. "Yes," she managed answer between sobs. "I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't make it, but I really want to try."

He sat there stroking her back, trying to concentrate on both calming her down and keeping himself calm. This was a lot to deal with all at once.

After a few minutes her crying had subsided a bit. Lum looked back up at him with a mournful expression. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything, Darling. I was afraid you wouldn't want to go through with it."

"It's ok," he assured her. "Next time talk to me though. We're a team, aren't we?"

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry," she repeated.

"I guess you don't know what it'll be yet, do you?" he asked.

"No," Lum replied, her voice finally returning to normal. "It's too early still." Her voice faltered again. "I don't think I even want to know yet, not until we know for sure."

* * *

A half hour later, Lum finally pushed herself back upright. "I love you, Darling," she murmured.

Ataru smiled. "I love you too," he told her gently. "You look tired."

"I am tired," she admitted, wiping her eyes. "I've been so worked up that I couldn't sleep."

He stood up slowly, his back protesting all the way. "Come on," he told her, "let's get in bed."

"I should have just told you in the first place," Lum commented as took his hand. "I know you didn't want to have any kids this soon."

Ataru shook his head. "Well, things don't always go according to plan," he told her. "We've been kind of winging ever since last summer."

She smiled. "That's true," she replied.

As they crawled into bed, Lum cursed herself for not telling Darling the news sooner. But even after all this time she found it hard to predict his reaction. She had imagined possible scenarios ranging from Darling urging she have an abortion to him running out on her. His calm acceptance and support was almost more than she could have hoped for.

She wished that she could relax now, but with that out of the way more pressing concerns were taking over. What would happen if the baby didn't make it? What if they couldn't ever have a child together? Ever since she had fallen in love with Darling, she had dreamed of a happy future with at least one or two children. Maybe that dream just wasn't meant to be.

Ataru pulled Lum close to him. "Hey," he said, interrupting her thoughts."

"What is it?" she asked cautiously.

He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Stop worrying so much," he ordered. "You've always worried about me, now let me do the worrying for both of us. You just concentrate on getting some rest."

Lum smiled. Darling had a way with words, clumsy as they sounded. "Ok," she promised. "I'm really glad you're here with me, my Darling."

"I'm always here for you," he told her sternly. "And I just know this is all going to turn out ok. It'll be a Moroboshi after all. You know how we are."

"Hard headed?" she teased.

"I prefer to think of myself as durable," he responded haughtily.

Lum giggled. "That is true," she admitted. She snuggled her head onto his shoulder. "I'm going to try to sleep now," she told him. "Could you just hold me for a little while?"

He nodded, stroking her hair with his free hand. "I hope you have nice dreams," he told her."

She smiled and closed her eyes. "I think I'm already having one."


	12. Preparations

Over the course of three weeks not just one, but six mysterious installations sprang up around the town of Tomobiki, forming a nearly perfect hexagon over 10 miles in diameter. And still the government of Japan flat out refused to acknowledge that anything unusual was taking place.

It was unknown if the aliens had struck some sort of deal, or if officials were simply afraid to interfere. In either case the Uruseins were left completely alone, allowing them to pursue their mysterious objectives in peace. The claims of the few who noticed the alien activity went unheard, their stories ignored by even the most sensationalist media outlets.

Luckily the Mendou clan relied neither on the media nor the government for information. Their network of satellites monitored every move the oni invaders made. The clan's forces kept their distance from the aliens, content for the moment merely to observe. To an outsider it would seem they were taking the same hands off approach as the government.

In reality they were merely biding their time. After the first failed attempt to take over one of the oni installations, the private army had been kept on high alert around the estate. As the weeks passed and no retaliation came, their nervousness faded but their determination did not. Three of the sites chosen by the aliens were on existing Mendou property, and after Shutaro's buyout of the original site it made four. Such a blatant disregard for the sanctity of the clan's property could not be tolerated for long.

Through it all Mendou Shutaro watched impotently from the sidelines. The sudden loss of command privileges was certainly jarring, but the extent of his failure was even more so. No matter how badly he had handled family resources before, this was the first time that there had been such deadly results and harsh consequences.

As another day drew to a close, Shutaro watched the sun slowly setting in the west. So ends another Friday the thirteenth," he thought to himself. Nothing particularly unlucky had happened, not that he had expected anything to. It was a western superstition anyhow.

The air was unusually cool for June. Mendou shivered slightly as a stiff breeze blew over him. Perhaps it was time for him to return inside to his studies. With everything else going wrong, he had thrown himself into his schoolwork with renewed vigor.

Not that it really mattered. In the autumn he would be attending Tokyo University, come hell or high water. He was certain that even if he utterly failed his exams, his father's influence would have already secured a place for his son.

Getting into the university through such means would be a terrible blow to the Mendou heir's pride and honor. And so he studied diligently. He gladly accepted the advantages of his position, but to use it like that just didn't sit right.

In the end it wasn't the brisk evening that drove him back inside, but the dimming light. The darkness of night was nothing compared to the total darkness that he feared, but when he was alone it still made him feel uneasy.

Not that he was ever totally alone. Someone out in the darkness he was being watched. He was always being watched. With their dark suits they were impossible to spot, but he knew they were out there. Security had been lowered, but the residential portion of the estate was still considered at risk.

Sliding the door firmly shut behind him, Shutaro stumbled over to the desk where his English book laid waiting. He sat down and started reading. This was probably his easiest subject. The Mendou Conglomerate had many branches across the globe, so he had been tutored in everything from English to Russian over the years. He was far from proficient in any of these languages, but his ability was good enough to get by.

After a few minutes the microphone on the corner of the desk caught his eye. It had been the better part of a month since he had given Shu-chan the order to cease communications. With the oni presence on Earth, he was extremely loath to risk her discovery. But without their daily chats he had became increasingly aware of just how alone he was.

Occasionally he sent her a brief message, nothing that would give them away, just mundane everyday events. He had no way to tell if his messages were still being received, but hopefully these precautions would keep her undetected out there. He had developed a surprising attachment to the rogue satellite over the past few months.

Speaking of space, he wondered for the millionth time how that goof Moroboshi was doing. They had only known each other for about a year and a half, and most of that time they had been at odds with each other. But the idiot was likely the closest friend Shutaro had ever had. Ton-chan had been his rival since they were kids, but he had never managed to find the balance between being enemies and friends that he had with Moroboshi.

The English book sat unnoticed as Shutaro thought back to their adventures together. Lum-san had almost always been there, the constant prize that he sought to win from the apathetic Moroboshi. Yet no matter how much Shutaro had excelled over the lower-middle class student, the alien princess had remained faithful to her supposed husband. The whole experience had really forced Mendou to reexamine himself, and he wasn't sure he liked what he had found.

His mind returned to Lum-san. He'd tried his hardest to win her over, knowing that she had no interest in him. Her heart was set on Moroboshi, and there was no swaying it. Honestly if Moroboshi had showed her more than an occasional bit of interest, Shutaro would have backed off. At least he liked to think that he would have.

The incident with Megane had really forced Shutaro to examine his motives even harder. In the end there hadn't been nearly enough difference between them for Shutaro to feel good about himself. The injuries Moroboshi had received could have come from Shutaro's own plans several times, if the guy hadn't had the devil's own luck.

He hoped the two were still doing well. He had once asked the oni communications officer, at Shinobu's urging, and found out that the pair had finally gotten married. Shinobu had been ecstatic at the news. Shutaro had found his own feelings tinted heavily with regret.

"Introspection is good for the soul," a familiar voice murmured. "But one must avoid becoming mired in the past."

Shutaro's head snapped up. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

The tiny monk calmly sipped his tea before replying. "I felt a great change in the spirits concerning you."

"You think that means you can just barge in here?" Shutaro asked irritably. "How did you even get past the guards?"

"Their perspective is too limited," Cherry responded. "They rarely look down."

Shutaro glared at the elderly man. "Where did that tea come from?" he asked suspiciously. "And those biscuits behind you?"

"Your sister is far more hospitable than you are," Cherry explained.

"Ryoko just does whatever will cause the most trouble."

"That may be," Cherry agreed. "But whatever her motives, she is a kind girl at heart."

Shutaro scoffed and turned back to his book.

"I understand that you haven't been very sociable lately," Cherry continued, nonplussed by the fact Shutaro was trying to ignore him. "Over the years, I've always found it helpful to keep as many friends as possible."

"That's because you are a huge mooch," Shutaro commented.

"If I can impart a little valuable wisdom to my friends, then my conscience is clear," Cherry snapped back. "Mendou Shutaro, both your friends and your family are worried about you. He set down his cup and crossed his tiny arms. "A man's true wealth is his friends."

"Any other cliché pearls of wisdom in that ugly head?" Shutaro asked scathingly.

"Many," Cherry replied arrogantly. "Alas, few of them have any relevance right now."

"It must be nice to be so simple," Shutaro mused. "All you have to worry about is who you can weasel your next meal from."

"This is true," Cherry admitted. "The simple life of a monk does have its advantages. Without complications of my own, I am free to observe and help others."

"Who have you ever helped?" Shutaro asked.

"I've been trying to help you for quite some time now," Cherry growled. "But you are hard headed, as young men often are." He turned and quickly stuffed several biscuits in his mouth. After swallowing them whole, he stood and bowed politely. "Remember my words, Shutaro. Though you neglect them, your friends are still there."

The monk headed for the door leading outside. He was starting to slide it open when Shutaro spoke up.

"Wait."

Cherry stopped and looked back.

"Thank you," Shutaro said quietly. "Come by again some time."

Cherry bowed once again and slipped away into the darkness. A few minutes later Shutaro heard one of his guards yelling. The monk wasn't as stealthy as he thought.

* * *

"You worry too much," Shinobu admonished.

Inaba shook his head, his rabbit ears bouncing comically. "I've seen a lot of awful futures lately," he muttered. "I can't give you any details, but if you'd seen them, you'd be worried too."

"What have you seen?" Shinobu insisted, starting to get annoyed.

"I just told you that I can't say," Inaba replied, crossing his arms and turning away. "You know I get in enough trouble already."

Shinobu grabbed the front of his red apron and hauled him closer. "Are you saying that's my fault?" she demanded.

Inaba's hands fluttered wildly. "No, no, I'm not," he told her nervously.

She released him and looked down. "I'm sorry, Inaba."

He smoothed down his costume carefully. "I'm sorry too," he told her. "They ignore the fact that we have this relationship as long as I don't directly interfere," he explained. "Honestly, I shouldn't be warning you at all. But I can't just sit by when it concerns you."

"Well, I can't just leave Tomobiki without a good reason," Shinobu replied more calmly. "My parents and all of my friends are here. And I've got my entrance exams coming up too."

Inaba nodded. "I understand," he replied. The rabbit costumed man looked up at the stars above them for a few minutes before continuing. "If I can, I'll come for you before things get too bad," he murmured softly. "If I bring you back there again, I don't know what they'll do to us, but I'll try my best to save you."

Shinobu looked at his resolute expression and her heart melted all over again. "Don't be so pessimistic," she told him, finding his hand in the dark. "You've said yourself a million times that the future is constantly changing. I'm sure there's lots of good futures that are just as likely to come true."

Inaba nodded, but inside he felt little hope. As time went on the dangerous futures more and more outnumbered the happy one.

"Inaba, don't do anything rash for my sake," Shinobu told him seriously. "You remember how mad those rabbits were last time."

He shook his head. "I don't care," he replied. "If it comes down to it, you're safety is more important to me then anything else."

"You're sweet," Shinobu whispered, drawing him close for a kiss.

Inaba blushed, but didn't pull away. "I wish we could stay like this forever," he murmured.

"I do too," Shinobu agreed, leaning against his side. "You'll have to go back soon, won't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "But you should probably go to bed soon anyways."

"It's a Friday," she reminded him. "I don't have school tomorrow."

"Oh," he responded. The Earthen days of the week didn't have much importance back at the bureau. He was only vaguely aware of the date.

They stayed close together, watching the stars from Shinobu's rooftop until it was time for him to go. He escorted her through a portal back to her room, giving her one last kiss goodnight before he stepped back through the doorway leading to his own dimension.

Black Rabbit was waiting for him on the other side. He didn't look very happy.

"Inaba, my boy," he greeted his most troublesome employee.

"Hi," Inaba said, raising his hand in greeting.

"Inaba, we need to talk," the dark colored rabbit told him. "You know that my superiors aren't very happy about all the trouble you've caused."

Inaba bowed low several times. "I'm very sorry," he apologized.

"Stop that," his boss told him. He sighed and put his arm around the boy's shoulders. "You're like a son to me, you know that. And I cover for you the best I can," he explained. "The entire key incident, I downplayed it as much as I could." He looked around irritably. "If those people you brought here hadn't caused so much trouble, I might could have just scooted the whole mess under the rug."

"I am sorry," Inaba repeated helplessly.

"I just want to warn you," the rabbit said, lowering his voice. "I won't always be able to cover for you. You need to watch yourself. I know you love that human girl, but we can't just go around trying to change their futures. You know that, right?"

"I know," Inaba replied, not meeting his superior's eyes.

"Inaba, I know it's hard being the only human working here." Black Rabbit flashed him a reassuring smile. "I still think I did the right thing, fighting to get permission to keep you. But since you are a special case, they do worry about you."

He looked away. "I've asked you this before, but are you still sure you don't want to go live in the human world? I can still arrange it."

Inaba nodded. "It is tempting," he admitted. "But I love my job, and I have lots of friends."

"Be careful about who you consider your friends," the rabbit warned. "Some people around here are too ambitious." He paused and looked around to make sure they were still alone. "Inaba, if you bring her back here again, they'll make sure you're finished here. Promise me you won't do anything rash."

Inaba looked his boss in the eye. "I can't promise that," he said apologetically. "If it comes down to it, I'm ready to accept whatever punishment they hand down. I don't want you to get drawn into my problems."

Black Rabbit smiled. "You're a good kid," he muttered. "Just keep your head down until then, alright?"

Inaba nodded.

"Now get to work, you're late."

* * *

Shu-chan eagerly listened to Shutaro-kun's latest message. He sounded a bit sad, but that was normal lately. She knew he was lonely and under a lot of stress.

She wished Shutaro would tell her what was going on, but it was enough to know that he was still safe and able to send her occasional messages. It let her know he was at least thinking about her.

The messages were the only thing breaking up the monotony lately. She was still moving far too slowly for her tastes, but she didn't dare use up any additional fuel. She would need every bit of it when she eventually neared Earth again. It wouldn't do to finally get back and not be able to reassume a stable orbit.

That annoying static was starting up again. Shu-chan was heavily considering shutting down her subspace receivers, but she was afraid that the oni might say something important and she'd miss it. Plus the periodic requests for her to respond were something to break up the monotony. And these days anything different, no matter how minor, was a welcome distraction.

But the bursts of subspace static, that was something she could happily do without. It had started around the time Shutaro had told her to stay quiet, and had only grown more frequent and intense since then. She wondered what was causing it, but the data she had siphoned from the oni told her nothing. Their receivers usually didn't suffer from interference, best she could tell.

* * *

Shutaro stepped into the massive room containing his research and development project hesitantly; he hadn't bothered to check up on them for weeks now. Ordinarily he would have been down every few days, but since the incident with the oni, his enthusiasm had faded dramatically.

The project's head technician looked pleased to see him. "Young Master," he called out happily. "I was hoping that you would come visit soon."

Shutaro nodded. "I've been meaning to see what progress has been made," he responded briskly.

The technician smiled and gestured over towards the corner of the room. "There it is, sir," he proudly proclaimed.

"What is it?" Shutaro asked cautiously. It just looked like a huge metal tub to him.

"It's a fully functioning ion engine," the supervisor explained. "At least it should be, we of course haven't had an opportunity to actually test it yet." He looked expectantly at Shutaro. "We designed it to fit on the experimental shuttle," he explained. "But we needed permission to do so, and then of course to start test flights."

Shutaro smiled. "That's excellent work," he praised. "So how fast would it be able to go?"

"We estimate that the top speed would be close to 65 percent of the speed of light," the technician explained. "That's far quicker than anything we theorized prior to this."

"How about a subspace capable engine?" Shutaro asked tentatively.

"That's a bit out of our reach still," the technician explained. "We have the specs to build one, but there's a few problems. The warp core components are pretty complicated, and we're still trying to figure those out." He hesitated for a few seconds before continuing. "The major problem is the navigational computations. We simply don't have fast enough computers to do the necessary calculations. The amount of processing power needed is astronomical."

"I see," Shutaro replied, a bit disappointed by the news. "Well, this is a great start. Go ahead and begin installing it on the shuttle as soon as possible." He stared at the engine for a moment longer. "How are we doing on staying within the budget?"

"We're fine," the supervisor replied. "Your father increased it tenfold a few weeks ago."

"Oh," Shutaro simply responded. That was a surprise. He remembered speaking to his father about it, but didn't know that his father had approved an increase. He really needed to stay more up to date on these matters. "Well, keep me informed," he ordered.

"We always do, sir," the technician reminded him politely as Shutaro turned to leave.

Shutaro blushed. There was a large stack of reports piled up on a table upstairs. He simply hadn't had the time or the interest to read through them all. "You guys are doing a great job," he commented on his way out. "I'll make sure everyone on the project gets a nice bonus."

"Thank you, young master," the technician called after him. He turned back to his assembled team. "You heard him, let's get to work."

Shutaro strolled through the hallways of the complex at a slow pace. He wasn't really heading anywhere consciously, but he soon found himself standing before the entrance to the hanger where the Mendou Experimental Space Shuttle was housed. Opening the door, he stepped into the vast chamber. The massive shuttle took up a great deal of it.

It was a pet project the development teams had been working on for over five years now. Far larger than the simple orbiters the Americans were using, the shuttle had been designed for the possibility of manned missions either to the Moon or Mars.

Unfortunately lack of interest from investors had kept the project from getting that far. His father's personal interest was the only thing that had kept the project going at all. After Lum's crash, he had pressed even harder for the shuttle to be finished, planning to use it as a test vehicle if they ever reproduced the saucer's engines.

He looked proudly at the silver colored ship. The hull was layered with a special titanium alloy deemed Mendou Super Metal due to its incredible strength. Delicate ceramic tiles weren't even considered; this baby was more durable than most tanks.

Shutaro stepped back out of the hanger, looking nervous. He was going to need permission from his father to launch the thing, and that was a bit of a problem. They had barely even spoken lately. He could only hope that his father would still be supportive of the project.

* * *

Shutaro coughed discreetly. "Father?"

The elder Mendou looked up from his dinner, surprised that Shutaro was finally speaking to him again. "Yes, Shutaro?"

"You remember that ion drive project I had the research group working on?" Shutaro asked hesitantly.

His father nodded. "Yes, I remember reading that they just finished a prototype a few days ago."

Shutaro nodded, hiding his embarrassment that his father was more up to date than he had been. "Well, I'd like to test it on the shuttle," he continued smoothly.

"I don't mind if you get it ready," his father replied, "but I don't want that shuttle leaving its hanger until this whole oni business is settled."

Shutaro opened his mouth to object, but his father cut him off.

"That's my final word on the matter, Shutaro," his father told him sternly. "They might consider it a threat, especially with that engine on it. We've sunk billions of dollars into that shuttle, and I don't want it getting shot down."

Shutaro nodded. "I understand," he replied humbly. So much for that idea.

"I'm glad that you're finally taking an interest in work again," his father continued in a more pleasant tone. "You've been rather withdrawn lately."

Shutaro didn't take his eyes off his plate. "I'm sorry," he replied. "I've just been busy studying for exams."

Ryoko had been silent up until that point. "You hardly ever leave your rooms, big brother," she complained. "That's so boring."

"Don't let too much stress build up," his father told him. "Your grades have always been exceptional, I don't think you'll have any problems with the exams. Try to relax a bit."

Shutaro didn't reply. After dinner he bowed slightly and retired to his suite.

"Don't you think you're being too hard on him?" his mother suggested after Ryoko had left the room. "What's one little shuttle matter if that's his dream?"

His father frowned. "That thing was expensive," he muttered. "Besides, Shutaro needs to learn that he can't just do whatever he wants without worrying about the consequences. That's something I should have taught him years ago." He sighed deeply. "Maybe I am being too harsh though. He's finally got his heart in the right place, at least." He stood up and put his napkin on the table. "I'll think about it," he promised his wife.

She smiled and nodded, knowing that she had already won.


	13. Appointments

"This is certainly encouraging," Dr. Hakushi muttered, looking over the test results.

"What is?" Ataru demanded.

The oni woman looked up from the results and fixed him with a cool gaze until he backed up out of her face. She turned back to where Lum was lying on the examination bed and smiled. "We're right around the four month mark, and everything still looks fine."

Lum let out a sigh of relief. "That's great," she gushed.

"You haven't been using your electricity, have you?" the doctor asked.

"No, I haven't used it in a really long time," Lum confirmed.

"That's probably a good thing. I'm not sure the fetus could take it." She sat down next to Lum. "You need to keep on being really careful about stuff like that. If it were pure oni, it wouldn't be an issue, but I don't know how being half human would affect it. And I don't know how much this will bother you, but it very may well not ever develop any powers."

"That would be ok," Lum responded. "Darling doesn't have any, and he's just fine."

The doctor glanced over at the suspiciously quiet Ataru. He was still leaning against the wall with a silly grin on his face. She couldn't tell if he was still listening or not.

"I'm sorry I can't be more certain of anything," the doctor apologized again. "We're in uncharted territory here, so to speak."

"I know," Lum replied.

"Now I want to speak to you about flying."

"What about it," Lum asked worriedly.

"Try to start flying more carefully and slower. Pregnant women often don't realize that they're carrying more weight, and that leads to a lot of accidents."

Lum smiled. "Ok," she promised, feeling relieved. She had been half afraid the doctor would say flying was bad for the baby as well. And flying was something she did constantly, much more often than walking.

Doctor, may I speak to you in private for a second?" Ataru asked the doctor with a grin. Lum glared needles at him, but didn't say anything as the two went into the hallway.

Dr. Hakushi studied the nervous Earthling. They really were an interesting species. She'd already given him a thorough examination about a month ago, trying to get a better idea of their physiology. This one was interesting regardless of his origin. She thought herself a good judge of people, but still couldn't tell if he was an idiot or not.

"So, give it to me straight," Ataru asked in a low voice. "Are we out of danger here, or what?"

"I wouldn't say that," the doctor said carefully. "It's way too early to know anything for sure. The longer that no problems crop up, the better, of course."

The earthling sighed. "Alright," he replied. "You know, it's going to be really rough on Lum if something goes wrong," he said quietly, looking at the door. "She's always been a really optimistic person. I know she's worried, but still I don't think she's prepared to deal with it."

"No woman is," the doctor stated. "I've dealt with a lot of pregnancies in my career. There's no way to prepare yourself for something like that." She put her hand on the earthling's arm. "And don't kid yourself, you aren't prepared for anything like that either."

"I'll be fine," Ataru replied. "But thanks, Doctor, I appreciate you being honest."

They went back into the room and found Lum just coming out from behind the changing curtain. "Well, was there anything else we need to know?" she asked brightly as she rejoined them.

"That was pretty well it," the doctor replied. "Just keep staying away from any foods Ataru here wouldn't be ok eating. I gave you a fairly safe list last time you were here, those should ensure you have a variety of safe nutrients."

Lum nodded. "I will," she promised.

"One last thing," the doctor told them. "Do you both still not want to know the gender?"

Lum and Ataru looked at each other. They had discussed it a few times beforehand. Lum was terribly curious to know, but she was still hoping that not knowing would make it easier in case there was a problem. Ataru was privately more pessimistic; he didn't believe it was going to be any easier either way.

"Thanks, but we'll pass," Ataru said. "Surprises are more fun anyhow."

The doctor nodded. "Alright then. We should be done here. Just keep taking it easy and I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

Lum gave Darling a relieved glance. She didn't know if she could have still answered the question that easily. "Thank you, Doctor," she said gratefully.

Ataru merely nodded and took Lum's hand. She grasped it tightly as they left the hospital.

"We really need to get a car," Ataru commented as they started their long walk towards the nearest field that had been large enough for them to park their ship in.

"No kidding," Lum replied, still not releasing him. "Darling, what did you drag the doctor out in the hall for?" she abruptly asked.

Ataru looked away. "I was just asking her if she might want to go get some tea sometime," he answered teasingly.

"Hey, I've been through a lot of tests today," Lum replied grumpily. "Don't mess with me."

Ataru chuckled. "I'm sorry, dear."

She almost missed his words as she prepared to launch a tirade at him for laughing. "Did you just call me dear?" she demanded. "Non sarcastically?"

Ataru's eyes went wide; he hadn't really been paying attention to what he was saying. "Maybe?" he answered cautiously.

She giggled. "That's the first time you ever seriously called me anything like that," she said happily.

"That can't be true," Ataru said, but honestly he couldn't remember having done so before.

"You aren't going to weasel out of it by sweet talking me," Lum continued. "I want to know what you were talking about."

Ataru sighed. "I was just making sure nothing was wrong still," he replied.

Lum glared at him. "You don't have to go out of the room to do that," she told him. "If something was wrong, I'd want to know about it too."

"I know," he replied.

"So don't do that anymore," she told him firmly.

"Yes, dear," he replied with an idiotic grin.

"Oh stop it now," Lum grumped. "You're doing it on purpose now."

"Anyways," he said, his grin fading away, "She didn't tell me anything different than what we already know."

"That's good,' Lum said thoughtfully. Her grip on his hand tightened a bit more. "She said that it's a good sign that we're this far along, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, all the humor gone from his voice.

"I'm stronger than you think," Lum said quietly. "I'm not like some little kid who needs to be protected from the truth."

"Sorry," he said sincerely. "I just know you've really got your hopes up."

"Like you haven't," Lum pointed out.

"I never said I didn't," Ataru replied quietly.

They walked on in silence for a few more minutes. Ataru thought it was a bit of a pain to come out to the capital, but that's were the best doctors were. As unique as their situation was, they couldn't afford to risk anything less.

As they passed by the patio of one of the numerous restaurants in the area, Lum suddenly started feeling queasy. "Darling," she said urgently, "I think I'm going to throw up." She leaned against him, starting to feel dizzy as well.

Ataru looked panicked. There really wasn't anywhere to throw up that wasn't the sidewalk or in the street. "Can you make it to the bathroom," he asked, pointing towards the restaurant with his free hand.

She shook her head. "Can't go in there. The smell's making me sick," she murmured.

He put his arm around her back, intending to help her at least get past the restaurant, but she went to her knees, retching. He quickly kneeled down next to her, scooping her hair back and steadying her.

"Hey, we're trying to eat here," one of the customers sitting near the rail complained loudly.

Ataru ignored the man, intent only on keeping his wife from falling.

After a few moments she was done. Ataru grimaced at the mess, but it couldn't be helped. He heard the diner behind them loudly complaining at one of the waiters.

"Sorry," he called out irritably. "My wife's pregnant, she can't help it."

A waiter came running out with some towels. Ataru, his hands full with a still unsteady Lum, could only apologize again.

The waiter stared at them for a moment. "Is that Princess Lum?" he asked tentatively.

Ataru didn't answer, as he was still trying to comfort Lum. "It's ok," he told her. He noticed her eyes looked weak.

"Do you need to go back to the hospital?" he asked her.

She slightly shook her head no. "I'm ok," she said after a moment. "Mom said this was normal." She tried to stand up on her own, but ended up having to lean heavily on her husband. "I'm sorry," she apologized to the waiter as he mopped up the mess.

"It's alright," the waiter replied graciously. "Do you two need me to call someone to drive you somewhere?"

I think we're ok," Ataru told him. "It's not that far to where we're going."

* * *

"You're cheap," Lum teased him.

"Taxis are expensive," Ataru protested, remembering the one time he had mistakenly used one.

She sighed. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked.

Ataru nodded. He'd already made it about half a mile from the restaurant, and he wasn't going to give out now. He tried to shift her weight a bit unsuccessfully. She was a little heavy, but not nearly as heavy as a human would have been.

"Are you still feeling dizzy?" he asked over his shoulder, trying to ignore the curious stares from the oni passing them.

"Yeah," she admitted reluctantly.

"And you're sure that's normal?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes," Lum said patiently, laying her head back down on his shoulder. "I got sick a couple of days ago and felt the same way for a while."

"You didn't say anything," he remarked.

"It was in the middle of the night," she explained. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"Next time wake me," he told her firmly. "What if you fell and got hurt?"

"Ok," she promised halfheartedly. Darling was sweet, but way too overprotective lately.

"I see the ship," Ataru said happily as they cleared the last building. He started across the grass towards it. "Maybe we should get your mom to drive us next time."

"Might be a good idea," Lum agreed. "You know, you don't have to come with me every time. Mom could just take me, that way we wouldn't have to keep taking the whole day off."

Ataru tensed up. "I want to come with you," he replied irritably.

Lum grimaced. Obviously that hadn't came out the way she meant it. "I like for you to be there," she assured him. "I just feel like it's a lot of trouble."

"It's my kid too," he growled.

She decided to just drop it. "Darling, I think I can make it the rest of the way," she decided.

"We're almost there," he said stubbornly. He scowled as something occurred to him. "We really need to get some kind of rope ladder," he told her. "You're going to have to carry me up."

"I think I can do that ok," she replied. "But you're right, I might not be able to in a couple of months."

He finally reached the ship and let Lum down gently. "Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, only slightly swaying on her feet. She quickly flew up and got the hatch open, then came back down for him.

"Hold on tight," she told him, not sure she would be able to keep her grip.

It took a lot more effort than usual, but she managed to get Darling inside.

"We're not doing that anymore," Ataru stated, noticing at how exhausted she looked. He guided Lum carefully over to the couch and helped her lay down.

"I just need to rest a minute," she said weakly. "Then I'll fly us back."

* * *

By the time Lum woke up, it was already dark out. "Why did you let me sleep so long?" she asked grumpily.

Ataru looked up from his seat at the table. "Because you didn't sleep much last night," he said.

She blushed. "How do you know?"

"Because you woke me up tossing around," he retorted. "Are you sure you should be up?" he asked, seeing her try to stand.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," she said, floating over to look out the window. "You flew back by yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied casually. "I do practice once in awhile."

"Looks like you missed the staircase by a good bit," she noticed.

"I know," he sighed.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"I told you I was fine."

"Ok," Ataru replied, turning back around.

Lum frowned at him, wondering why he seemed to be in such a bad mood.

"I talked to your mother," he spoke up, still staring at the table. "She said she'd take us from now on."

"Thank you, Darling," she said, settling in the seat next to him. "Sorry you had to carry me so far."

"It was nothing," he replied.

"It was very sweet," she insisted. Leaning in to kiss her forehead, she was disappointed when he didn't respond.

"What's the matter, Darling?"

"You've got another appointment first thing tomorrow morning," he said. "I've already rescheduled that one job we had. Hopefully we'll be back early enough that I don't have to cancel the one in the afternoon."

Lum narrowed her eyes. "Why do I have another appointment tomorrow?" she demanded. "The doctor said a couple of weeks."

"Getting a little dizzy and throwing up once in awhile is normal," he bit out. "Not even being able to walk afterwards isn't. They want to check you out again, just to be safe."

She looked down. "Oh," she replied.

"You need to start taking care of yourself better," Ataru continued. "You didn't tell Dr. Hakushi that you aren't sleeping well, and being an idiot I didn't mention it either."

"It's just once in awhile," she protested. "Nothing serious."

Ataru grimaced. "That's what you keep saying," he complained. After a moment he looked her in the eyes. "Lum, I'm really worried about you."

She sighed and looked away. "Are you hungry?" she asked in as neutral a tone as she could muster.

"I already ate," he replied, getting up.

She started to get up herself, only to be gently pushed back down into her seat.

"I'll warm your dinner up," he told her firmly. "You just stay there."

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't treat me like a child," she warned him.

"Then stop acting like one," he called back from the kitchen. Hearing her chair moving, he rolled his eyes. "Lum, are you getting up?"

"I need to use the bathroom," she yelled back irritably. "Is that ok with you?"

Ataru didn't bother replying.

When she finally returned, her dinner was sitting on the table. Ataru had retired to watch TV on the couch.

"My horns got longer," Lum stated as she sat down. "Were they like that this morning?"

"No," Ataru replied, a bit less gruff than before. "They started growing while you were asleep."

"Well, at least this time we know I'm not turning into a cow," she joked.

"Yeah," he replied, not sounding amused.

"Come on, don't be so grumpy, Darling," she told him.

"Your horns get longer when your body tries to fight off an infection," Ataru reminded her. "Hopefully that just means you're getting sick."

"Hopefully?" she asked irritably.

"Hopefully it doesn't mean your body is trying to reject the fetus," he finished quietly. "Either way it's nothing to laugh about."

Lum's face went pale. "Oh," she replied, not sure what to say.

Ataru stared resolutely at the screen. He hadn't wanted to tell her that, but maybe now she would stop being so stubborn.

A quiet sob sounded from the direction of the table, getting his attention immediately. Crossing the room in a few steps, he bent down by her side.

"Lum, I'm sorry," he told her earnestly. "I shouldn't have said that."

She shook her head furiously, refusing to look in his direction.

"Come on," he pleaded helplessly. "Stop crying. Everything's going to be ok. We're going to go see the doctor in the morning, and it'll be fine."

"What if it isn't?" she choked out between sobs.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," he said, trying to regain his composure. Gently turning her head back towards him, he gave her his best reassuring smile. "Come on, calm down."

She sniffled. "I'm sorry, Darling. This is all my fault."

He lightly rapped her on the top of the head. "Don't talk like that," he told her sternly. Hugging her close, he pressed his cheek to hers. "Whatever happens, it's nobody's fault. Please, just calm down."

Eventually he felt her body stop shaking. "Are you alright," he asked hesitantly.

She shook her head. "No," she whispered. "I'm really scared, Darling."

"I am too," he admitted. "I'm more scared than I've been in my whole life."

"You're always so calm," she pointed out. "How do you do that?"

He didn't answer immediately. How could he tell her that the only thing keeping him from being a shaking wreck was the fact that he knew it would upset her even more?

"Because I know everything's going to be fine," he finally replied. He glanced at her dinner, still sitting untouched where he had left it. "Come on, Lum, you need to hurry up and eat."

"I don't have any appetite," she murmured.

"You still need to eat," he told her gently.

She sighed heavily. "You're right," she said, picking up her chopsticks.

* * *

"We're going to have to remove your horns," Dr. Hakushi said regretfully. "I've been afraid something like this might happen."

Lum squeezed Darling's hand tightly. "Won't they just grow back in a few days?" she asked hesitantly.

"Normally, yes," the doctor replied. "But we can use a special growth inhibitor on your scalp." She looked down. "Honestly, this isn't very safe. You're already a bit weak, and without your horns your immune system will be very weak."

"Well, there isn't any other choice, is there?" Lum asked.

"It's still early enough if you want to abort the pregnancy," the doctor replied hesitantly. "If we do this, your own health is going to be in danger." She looked Lum in the eyes. "If you go through with it, you'll have to use the growth inhibitor for at least the next couple of months. There's a good chance that your horns won't grow back after that long."

Lum's face bore a determined expression. "That doesn't matter," she replied.

"You're absolutely sure that you want to go ahead with this?" the doctor asked. "You'll lose all of your powers, and you'll be very susceptible to infections and colds. And if they don't grow back, you'll be like that for the rest of your life."

"Could you give us a minute," Ataru told the doctor.

Dr. Hakushi bowed and left the room.

"I don't like this," he told her. "It's sounding more and more dangerous."

Lum stared at him. "I don't want to lose our child," she stated firmly.

"I know," Ataru replied. "I don't even want to think about it. But I don't want to lose you either." He looked away, his face twisted. "I couldn't stand losing you, Lum."

She watched wide-eyed as her Darling wept quietly, not sure what say to comfort him. He was the one that always seemed so strong. He comforted her when she was down, and she found herself at a loss when his own facade finally crumbled. The last time she had seen him cry at all had been after that last crash, and that had been nothing compared to this.

"Darling," she finally told him quietly. "I'll be ok. I know this is a big risk, but I really think it's worth it." She paused for a moment. "This isn't just my decision though," she continued reluctantly. "When I said I would marry you, I gave myself to you, mind and body. If you don't want to continue, then we won't."

Ataru didn't answer for a long time. She had just made this a lot tougher, laying the entire decision on his shoulders. But then again, he knew there was only one answer he could give her. Even though she had been worried, her eyes had never shone as brightly as they had the past two months. He was afraid that if they didn't go through with this that they would never shine again.

"Ok," he finally responded, wiping at his eyes. "We'll keep going."

* * *

Three hours later, Ataru sat in the back seat of his mother-in-law's car, cuddling Lum close to him. "Are you doing ok?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she said distantly, still seeming a little groggy from being put to sleep earlier. She raised a hand to her temple, wincing as she found the spot where her left horn had been. "Ouch," she muttered softly.

"They said you'd be sore for a few days," Ataru observed.

Lum's mother glanced at them in her mirror. She didn't like any of this, not one bit. Lum was way too young to be making such important decisions. But it was their decision, not hers. Honestly she knew she would have done the same thing back when she was pregnant with Lum.

"_I want you to stay in bed today_," she called back to her daughter. "_And make sure you don't forget that you can't fly_."

"Ok, Mama," Lum replied.

"Ataru, make sure she stays in bed," Mrs. Invader repeated in Japanese.

"I will," he promised, ignoring Lum's irritated expression. He checked his watch. "I'm going to go ahead and keep our afternoon appointment, and you're going to park your butt and not move it," he told his wife.

"Fine, fine," Lum said, starting to feel more awake.

The car slowed to a halt in front of their saucer. "Call me if anything happens," her mother said, still speaking in Japanese. I'll be over as soon as I can." She paused before continuing in Oni. "_You're sure you don't want me to stay with you today_?"

"No, I'm ok," Lum told her.

"_Alright_," her mother replied, putting the car in drive. She waved as she sped out of sight.

"Ok, easy does it," Ataru told Lum, guiding her carefully towards the stairs. He looked up at them irritably, just now remembering his bad attempt at parking the day before. He'd merely leaped the gap between the door and the top of the stairs that morning, but there was no way Lum was going to be able to do that.

"Can you stand by yourself for a minute?" he asked.

"I think so," Lum replied.

He made sure she was right before starting to maneuver the stairs back towards the saucer door. It wasn't an easy job due to their size and weight, but eventually he got them eased back up against the saucer.

As soon as that was done he guided her up the stairs and inside the UFO.

"Can't I just lay on the couch?" Lum asked as he led her towards their bedroom. "There's no TV in here."

"You need to be resting, not watching TV," he replied firmly. He helped her sit down on the bed, despite her protests, then quickly removed her boots and dress. That task done, he finally got her to lie down so that he could tuck her in.

"That customer should be arriving any minute," he told her. "I'm going on out. If I come in and you're not in bed, I'm calling your mother over to come watch you."

Lum stuck her tongue out at him. "You're terrible," she told him. "I'm not even sleepy."

"I'm not kidding," he called out as he left the room.

When he returned several hours later, he was pleased to find her sound asleep and right where he had left her.


	14. A Sleepy Princess

"This really bites," Lum pouted.

Ataru looked up from his plate with a confused expression. "What does?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm sick of being cooped up in here," she complained. "I don't have anything to do and I'm bored silly."

"Sorry," he replied earnestly. "The doctor said you shouldn't be around too many people. You don't want to catch anything, do you?"

"No," she replied irritably. "I just feel useless lately. And you're having to do all the work, and I hate that too."

"You're still scheduling our appointments and figuring up the bills," Ataru reminded her. "That's a big help. You know how I am with numbers and dates and stuff."

She frowned. "That's not much work at all. And don't give me that I can't handle numbers line."

He grinned as idiotically as he could, trying to get a laugh out of her. He wasn't successful.

She looked down at the table. "Besides, we haven't had as many jobs lately anyways."

"Well, that's ok. It does take longer for one person to do stuff than two," Ataru remarked casually. He didn't mention that once word had gotten out that Lum wasn't working anymore, the amount of people choosing them just to meet her had tapered off. That was fine with him, those customers were usually the most annoying ones.

"We planned that I would be able to keep working until the last few months," Lum reminded him. "This is killing our savings."

"I know," he sighed. "If we have to ask your parents for a loan, it won't be the end of the world."

She shot him a surprised look. "You hate asking for loans," she replied.

"Yeah, I do," he agreed.

Lum went back to trying to finish her dinner. "I need a hobby," she announced a few minutes later.

"You used to knit," Ataru replied, remembering a few scarves she had made him.

"I don't want to do that right now," she said in a sad tone. "I need to do something that will take my mind off of things."

"Well, I only have one job in the morning, and it's not a big one," he mused. "We could play _Runic Wars _after that, we haven't played in ages.

She thought about it. "Alright," she agreed. "But that doesn't help me being bored while you're out there working."

"I'll try to think of something," he promised.

She sighed and pushed her plate away. "Aren't pregnant women supposed to constantly hungry?" she asked irritably.

"I think so," Ataru replied with a shrug. "I haven't really been around any."

"I can barely stand to eat anything," she admitted. "Everything tastes so bland."

"Doctor said to keep the spices to a minimum. And you need to finish that," he admonished her. "You promised that you'd start eating better."

"Fine, fine," she grouched, picking her chopsticks back up. "You sound just like my mother."

"Sorry," he replied. "Just trying to look out for you."

"How are you holding up?" she asked suddenly.

Ataru blinked. "I'm fine," he replied. "Never better."

"You aren't worn out?" Lum insisted. "I know it's hot out there, and you didn't take many breaks."

"Didn't have time to," he replied. "Had to completely rebuild that guy's engine."

"Don't overdo it," she said. "You spend so much time worrying over me, and you don't take care of yourself enough."

"You know me, I recover fast," Ataru replied jovially. "If I didn't, I wouldn't have survived this long."

Lum didn't say anything more for several minutes. "Ran-chan called me earlier today," she suddenly announced.

"What did she want?"

"She was mad that I didn't tell her I was pregnant," Lum replied quietly.

"We haven't told anyone outside of family," Ataru growled.

"I explained that, but she was convinced that I've been purposely leaving her out."

"She didn't upset you, did she?" he asked, more than a little irritated at the obnoxious redhead.

"Not really," Lum smoothly lied. "I just wish we could have kept it secret a little longer though."

"You get seen coming in and out of hospitals enough, rumors start flying," Ataru replied in a resigned tone. "We did the best we could."

"It's annoying," Lum griped. "I got a couple of calls from some reporters earlier too."

"What did you tell them?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing, I just hung up." She picked up her plate and let out a soft groan as she stood up.

"Back hurting again?" Ataru asked.

"Yeah," she muttered. "I don't know how you can stand having to walk all the time."

"You just aren't used to it yet," he replied, hopping up to help her. He wisely didn't suggest that without her horns she now had to carry her full weight. And that weight had definitely increased a bit over the last few weeks.

"I'm ok," she insisted, waving him away. "Finish your own dinner."

* * *

"You knew, didn't you?" Ran demanded. "Lum-chan always tells you everything."

Oyuki stared passively at her furious friend. "Knew what?"

"Stop acting dumb," Ran sneered. "It's been on the news all day."

"You mean about the spaceport reopening?" Oyuki nodded, hiding a smile. "Yes, I have been somewhat involved in that project."

Ran's eyebrows arched, not realizing that the ice queen was deliberately teasing her. "No, not that," she spat out. "I'm talking about Lum-chan being pregnant."

"Oh?" Oyuki replied.

Ran decided to go the pitiful route. "Why does everyone always treat me this way?"

"Ran, I had no idea," Oyuki replied. "And neither did Benten."

Ran looked surprised. "Doesn't that piss you off?"

"Did you even bother to ask Lum why she was keeping it a secret?" the Neptunian asked. She was rapidly growing irritated, but was careful not to let it show.

Ran looked confused. "No," she admitted. "I figured she was just being mean to me."

"You seem to think everything is about you," Oyuki replied.

"Well?" Ran demanded, ignoring Oyuki's icy demeanor.

"Well, what?" Oyuki asked, losing what little patience she had left.

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"That is not my place to say," Oyuki responded. "Ask her yourself."

"Fine, I will," Ran growled.

"And Ran?"

"What?" Ran replied, stopping herself from disconnecting the call.

"If you are not nice to her, I will hear about it." Oyuki didn't bother to mince her words, though she was able to keep her face and voice emotionless. "Remember that."

She could swear that Ran turned a shade paler before the screen shut off.

* * *

Ataru scowled. The guy kept complaining that his car wasn't starting well, but even after an hour of checking Ataru couldn't find anything wrong. And the car started fine every time he tried it. He had attempted to tell the man that, but his explanation had fallen on deaf ears.

He kept an eye on the oni customer out of the corner of his eye. There was something about the man that he just didn't like. Mostly it was the fact that he kept catching the guy watching the UFO's windows.

"Hey, would you mind if used your restroom for a second?" the guy suddenly asked.

Ataru glanced up. "Sorry," he apologized. "You can go behind that pile of junk if you need to take a leak."

"Why can't I use it?" the man insisted.

Something in his tone grated on Ataru's nerves. "We're having a plumbing issue," he lied.

"So you fix cars and ships, but you can't fix your own plumbing?" the customer laughed. "That doesn't sound likely."

"Haven't had time today," Ataru bit out. There wasn't any way in hell he was letting this weirdo in there.

"That must be inconvenient," the oni commented. He was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "Hey, I thought you worked with your wife."

"On a small job like this, I can handle it myself," Ataru replied casually.

"I heard she hasn't been helping you for a while now. Having some trouble?"

"Nope," Ataru responded, burying himself back under the hood.

"Is it true that she's pregnant?" the customer asked eagerly.

Ataru stared at the engine for a moment, trying to control his temper. The man's game was suddenly obvious.

"Well," he announced abruptly, straightening up with a jerk. "There's nothing I can find wrong with your car." He closed the hood carefully. "It starts just fine every time I try it. If it starts happening again, just bring it back."

"You didn't answer my question," the oni pressed on.

"Since I couldn't find anything wrong, I'm not going to charge you," Ataru continued, calmly wiping his hands off on a rag. "Pleasure doing business with you."

He started walking towards the stairway leading inside, but the oni man headed him off. "Can you tell me why you've been visiting the hospital so much lately?"

Ataru glared at the much taller oni for a moment. "Excuse me," he growled.

The oni stayed where he was. "If you would just answer a few questions," he insisted.

Ataru forced himself to unclench his fists. It had been years since he had dealt with such an annoying reporter. Back when he had first met Lum, the Japanese media had swamped his family for weeks. Back then he had been an ace at quickly disappearing around town, but this wasn't Tomobiki.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd leave," he asked gruffly. "I don't have time for this."

The oni didn't budge from his spot in front of the stairs. "You'll have to talk about it sooner or later. Wouldn't it be better to just get it over with now?"

Ataru looked off to the side suddenly. "Lum!" he called out happily.

The reporter's head whipped around for just a second, but that was all the time Ataru needed to slip around him and get halfway up the stairs.

The earthling's victorious chuckle was cut short when he managed to slip on the top step, landing flat on the landing. Muttering, he slapped the door open and crawled inside.

The reporter stared at the saucer for a moment before returning to his car. It started immediately, just as he knew it would. It appeared they were going to have to use different tactics to get anything newsworthy.

* * *

"Oh, Darling, what happened?" Lum asked wearily, looking up from her seat on the couch. A combination of the crash outside and Darling scuttling in had startled her out of a sound sleep.

Ataru got back to his feet slowly, rubbing his nose gingerly. "That guy was some idiot reporter," he replied irritably.

"Why's your face all red?" Lum demanded.

He blushed. "I just tripped on the stairs," he explained, peeking out the window to make sure the oni was leaving. "I'm going to go take a shower," he announced. "If that guy shows up again, don't answer the door."

"Ok," Lum said, staring after him with a concerned look. "You left your tools outside," she called after him.

"I'll get them later," Ataru yelled back.

As soon as she heard the shower start, Lum heaved herself up and called her parents.

To her disappointment her father answered. "Lum, how are you doing?" he demanded gruffly.

"I'm fine," she replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. The warlord hadn't been happy about her decision to have her horns removed, and they still weren't on good terms. "Dad, can't you do something about these stupid reporters?" she asked irritably. "They're bugging Darling now."

He shook his head. "I'll talk to some friends of mine," he promised, "but it's a free planet. I can't just tell everyone to leave you alone."

"Fine," she grated. "Is mom there?"

"Yeah, let me go get her," he said, sounding more than a little hurt.

Lum looked sadly at the empty screen. She'd always been really close to her father, but this time they had both let their tempers get the best of them. She was grateful that at least her mother was being supportive.

Her mother soon appeared. "_Hi, Lum_," she greeted her daughter. "_Are you ok_?"

"Yeah," she replied in a much friendlier voice. "Just feeling kind of stressed out."

"_You shouldn't let them bother you so much_," her mother said sternly.

"It's really hard not to," Lum complained. "I have to keep the phone turned off, and now they're even showing up in person."

"_Well, just do your best_," her mother replied. "_And can't you be nicer to your father_?"

Lum's eyes narrowed. "Maybe when he starts treating me like an adult," she replied haughtily.

Her mother sighed. "_He tries, but you know that he's just worried about you_."

"I know," Lum admitted sadly. "I just don't need him yelling at me right now."

"_Well, don't stay mad at him too long_," her mother replied. "_He's too stubborn to apologize, but I know he's upset over it_."

"Ok," Lum promised with a yawn. "I'm going to go lay down, I'm feeling kind of tired again."

Her mother frowned. "Alright," she replied. "I'll be here if you need me."

"Thanks, Mom," Lum replied, disconnecting the call. She carefully made her way back to the couch and plopped down. It was annoying have so little energy, but the doctor had warned her that it would happen. It was just another annoying side effect of losing her horns.

By the time Ataru returned from his shower, Lum was stretched out lazily across the couch. "Are you ok?" she asked sleepily.

He sat down on the floor beside her. "Yeah," he said. "Just pissed off about that guy wasting my time. There wasn't anything wrong with that car."

"Sorry, Darling," she replied. She sat up and patted the cushion next to her. "Don't sit down there," she scolded.

Ataru settled in beside her and wasn't surprised when she stretched back out, her head now resting in his lap. "You just wanted a pillow," he observed.

"Yep," she answered happily. "But this way I get my Darling too."

He idly started running his fingers through her hair. "I should have charged that guy," he grumped.

"You didn't?" Lum asked incredulously.

"He was creeping me out, so I just wanted him to leave," Ataru retorted.

"I called my Dad, but it didn't sound like there was anything he could do," she explained.

As if it was on cue, the console alerted them that they had an incoming call.

"I forgot to turn the stupid thing off again," Lum said regretfully. She started to get up, but Ataru gently pulled her back down.

"Just let them sit there," he muttered. "I'll go turn it off in a little while."

* * *

A loud banging on the door startled them both out of their nap. Ataru stalked angrily to the window and peered out.

"Ran," he muttered. "Do you want to talk to her?" he asked grumpily.

Lum thought about it for a moment. "I guess so," she said.

He shrugged and threw open the door. Ran stalked by him without a word, her irritation obvious.

"You could at least answer when I call," she burst out at Lum.

"Keep your voice down," Ataru growled, startling Ran. He shot her a nasty look before going outside to collect his tools.

Ran stared after him for a moment before continuing. "Well?" she demanded.

"Sorry, Ran-chan, all these reporters keep calling, so I've been trying to keep it off," Lum apologized as she stood up. "Do you want some tea?"

Ran made a beeline for the table. "Sure," she replied, sounding slightly mollified.

By the time Lum returned from the kitchen, she found Darling had joined them at the table.

"So, Lum-chan," Ran asked once Lum had settled in, "how's it going?"

Ataru glanced at her suspiciously. The redhead wasn't using either her angry or sickeningly sweet tone. He wondered if this was finally her normal voice that he was hearing.

"Alright," Lum replied casually, sipping her tea.

"Sorry about yesterday," Ran apologized hurriedly.

Ataru almost choked upon hearing Ran's apology. Ran never apologized. Well, not willingly.

"It's fine," Lum replied, hiding her amusement at Darling's coughing fit.

Ran's eyes narrowed. "Are you mad at me or what?" she growled.

"Not really," Lum told her. "I used to get mad when you went off at me, but I pretty well expect it at this point."

Ran fixed her gaze firmly on the table. "I said I was sorry," she muttered.

"And I accepted your apology," Lum replied calmly. Ordinarily she would be walking on eggshells not to upset Ran, but the nasty call the night before had been the final straw. If Darling could stand up to Ran, so could she.

"Anyways," Ran eventually continued, "I want to know why you kept this a secret from us. We're your best friends, aren't we?"

Lum sighed. "I was trying to let as few people as possible know," she explained.

"But why?" Ran persisted, deciding to ignore the warning glare that Darling was shooting her way.

"Because there's still a good chance that I'm going to have a miscarriage," Lum said bluntly. "I figured that would be easier to deal with if we kept it to ourselves."

"Oh," Ran replied, not expecting that answer. She sat quietly for a moment before continuing. "Why do you think that might happen?"

"Because I'm so different from Darling," Lum quickly replied, cutting off his response. "We've only gotten this far because I had my horns removed."

Ran glanced up, not having noticed the absence of her friend's tiny yellow horns until now. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I just didn't know."

"That's how I wanted it," Lum replied, glancing irritably at the television screen. "So much for that."

Ran frowned. "I understand why you didn't tell just anyone, but you could have told your best friends at least," she asserted. "We've always been there for each other over the years."

Lum started fidgeting with her cup. "Sorry," she apologized. "I guess I just didn't want to get everyone's hopes up in case anything happens." She gave Ran a sad smile. "So far everything's going well though. Our baby seems to be developing normally."

"How far along are you?" Ran asked hesitantly.

"About 19 weeks," Lum replied.

"Really?" Ran replied. "You aren't showing that much."

"The doctor says I will soon," Lum lamented.

Ran nodded.

"So, how are things between you and Rei," Lum asked, eager to change the subject.

"About the same," Ran sighed. "I'm still not sure how he feels about me, but at least he isn't mooning over you anymore."

"Have you tried asking him?" Lum inquired.

"He says he likes me," Ran admitted. "But I don't know if he means just as friends or what."

"That's more than he ever said to me," Lum recalled.

Ataru gave her a curious look, but decided to keep quiet.

"Really?" Ran asked excitedly. "So you think he really does like me?"

Lum shrugged. "I guess so," she replied.

Ran squealed. "I'm going to invite him over tonight," she decided. Standing up, she skipped towards the door. "I'm going now," she announced.

"Ok, Ran-chan, good luck," Lum told her.

"Thanks, Lum-chan," Ran replied. "And don't forget, if you need to talk, we're here for you."

"Alright," Lum responded.

"Bye, Lum-chan, bye Darling," she called on her way out the door.

Ataru grinned. "Bye Ran-chan," he called in his most idiotic voice.

Lum shot him a glance, but he merely chuckled.

* * *

"That didn't turn out the way I figured," Lum commented after cleaning up the table.

"No kidding," Ataru replied. "Since when has Ran been that nice?"

"Oyuki said she spoke to Ran last night," Lum mused.

"Ah," Ataru replied. That explained a lot.

Lum looked at the time. "I guess I should start dinner," she told him. "Sorry that we kind of wasted today."

"Eh, we spent half the afternoon cuddling," he replied. "That's a good day in my book. He stretched lazily. "I just wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"I hope I can. I'm sick of being so tired everyday," Lum remarked irritably.

"At least it keeps you out of trouble," Ataru teased as he followed her into the kitchen. "I can remember a time when I would have loved having you be so docile."

"I can still bite," Lum reminded him. "And you're just asking for it."

"Believe me, I know you can," he replied ruefully. "I was just teasing you though. I can't wait until you're feeling better again."

"I can't wait to get rid of all this fat," Lum complained. "Even without my horns I look like a cow."

"You look beautiful," Ataru protested.

"Please," Lum replied. "I haven't even been able to fit into my bikini for weeks."

"That's just because you got a bit bustier," Ataru replied with a grin. "I actually consider that a perk."

"You're just terrible," Lum replied, smiling despite herself.

"Yes, people tell me that," Ataru said innocently.

Lum's expression suddenly switched to one of shock.

"What's wrong?" Ataru demanded.

"I think I just felt a kick," Lum replied.

"Really?" Ataru exclaimed. "That's great!" He hurriedly bent down and put his hand on her stomach. After waiting a couple of minutes, he looked up with a frown. "I don't feel anything," he complained.

"Well, it's not going to do it on command," Lum replied, trying not to laugh.

He straightened up and crossed his arms. "Are you sure it wasn't just gas?" he teased.

"Pretty sure," Lum replied happily. "And Dr. Hakushi said I should start feeling movement soon."

Ataru nodded. He stared at her stomach for a moment longer, his face unreadable, then leaned up against the counter to think.

Lum smiled at him brightly. She had been sure for a long time that Darling was going to be a good father, but moments like this just confirmed it.

"Are we still sure we don't want to know if it's a boy or a girl?" he asked, suddenly serious again. "I mean, who are we kidding here?"

"I don't know," Lum replied, her smile fading. She sighed heavily and leaned against him. "But you're right. It's probably not going to hurt any less."

"I just hate saying it," Ataru admitted. "Doesn't seem right."

Lum nodded. "Ok," she decided. "Next time we go in, we'll ask."

He nodded and slid his arm around her back. Ataru wondered if he should have brought that up at such a happy moment, but it was something that had been bugging him for a while now.

"Ok," Lum finally said, interrupting his thoughts. "I need to get started, and I need you to get out of the way." She slipped away regretfully, but not before giving him a quick kiss.

"I love you, Darling," she told him sincerely.

He smiled in response.

"Seriously though, scoot," Lum insisted. "I can't cook with you standing there."


	15. Triumphant Return

The heat was nearly overwhelming. Mendou Shutaro paused for what seemed like the hundredth time to wipe the sweat from his eyes.

"Hurry up, Shutaro," his father called back cheerfully. "We're going to miss the big event."

Shutaro glared at him. "Father, I don't understand why we couldn't have ridden there."

"Walking is great exercise," his father replied, pushing his pith helmet down. "Plus this road is too rough for that."

He had barely finished the sentence when a jeep came speeding by, filled to capacity with men in black suits. Their rambunctious laughter rang out through the forest long after they had disappeared from sight.

"See what I mean, those poor men are having a terrible ride, I'm sure."

Shutaro just kept walking. "I don't see why we landed so far away from the site in the first place."

"Secrecy," his father declared, his tone abruptly serious. "It wouldn't look good to have a bunch of helicopters coming and going all the time. But if we spread out the landing sites, it's not as obvious."

Shutaro raised his eyebrows, surprised to hear such a reasonable explanation. "How did you move in the heavy equipment?" he inquired.

"We brought most of it over in refitted oil tankers," his father replied. "Then it was just a matter of trucking everything inland.

"A bunch of big ships all heading for the same place wasn't conspicuous?" Shutaro demanded.

The elder Mendou shrugged. "We spaced them out and did all of the loading and unloading at night from the usual ports. We own the oil company, so it was just a matter of rerouting a few shipments.

"It seems like you thought of everything," Shutaro observed. "Impressive."

"That's my job," his father replied casually. "Who did you think keeps the company running so smoothly?"

Shutaro grinned. "It's a shame that we won't be able to keep this site secret much longer," he lamented.

"Says who?" his father retorted. "I've got lots of connections. Officially the Brazilian government is just doing a rocket test today. And best we can tell the Uruseins aren't watching this continent at all.

"I can't imagine why," Shutaro remarked disdainfully as he looked at the dense rain forest on either side of the road.

"So how long have you been working on this?" Shutaro asked tentatively. "Last time we talked you were against the idea."

"Can't make history or profits without a few risks," his father replied. "Besides, I haven't got any idea what to do about Tomobiki. We're going to have to start trying to adapt to this new technology if we want to get ahead of the game."

Their conversation lapsed into silence as they rounded the last bend in the road and their destination came into view. The area was certainly large enough, but Shutaro was shocked to see absolutely no sign of the launch complex. Aside from the dozens of workers milling about, the area simply looked like a normal clearing.

"What's going on, Father?" he demanded. "There's nothing here." He scanned the area carefully. "I don't even see that jeep that just passed us."

His father grinned. "You'll see," he promised.

* * *

Despite his father's rush to arrive, it was nearly an hour until the launch was scheduled to begin.

"This is amazing, even for you," Shutaro muttered, looking through the heavy glass at the massive underground silo. "Who would have thought of building the entire facility underground?" He shot a suspicious glance back at his father. "Come clean, there's no way this place was built in a couple of months."

"You've got me there," his father replied amiably. "Most of this place was built over the last three years." He pointed out the window at the shuttle below. "We always planned to launch her from a site near Tomobiki, but this place was already close to being finished. We just did a little renovating."

"What did you build it for?" Shutaro asked.

"It was originally going to be a network of anti-ballistic missile silos," his father replied. "You didn't think we concentrated all of our defenses in Japan, did you?" He shook his head. "The cold war's been dying down, but we've been building sites like this for years just in case. Our defense network is probably more advanced than either the Americans or the Russians."

"Wouldn't that violate a bunch of treaties?" Shutaro asked cautiously.

"Please," his father scoffed. "We're just a private company, not a country. We've never signed any such treaties." He chuckled. "We've done a amazing job of keeping secret the scope of our activities over the last few decades. Ever since the fifties we've been planning for a worse case scenario."

"How come I was never told about this?" Shutaro demanded.

"Because we keep everything on a need to know basis," his father replied. "That's how we keep the governments off of our backs." He gestured towards the technicians in the next room. "None of those men have any idea what this place was designed for.

The blaring of a siren ended their conversation.

"What is that?" Shutaro demanded.

"That means launch preparations are underway," his father said, pointing at the gangway below.

A large team of heavily suited men was now making its way towards the awaiting ship. They quickly disappeared into the ship's hatch, and the gangway smoothly slid away.

"What I wouldn't give to be going out there," his father muttered. He smiled. "But your mother would kill me if I even considered it."

"I wouldn't mind going myself," Mendou said, watching the proceedings with awe.

"Oh hush," his father replied. "You already got to travel though space a couple of years ago, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Shutaro admitted. "But that was totally different. It was just like flying on one of our Mendou heavy bombers."

His father nodded. "I guess this is pretty primitive compared to those oni ships," he sighed. "They're still working on figuring out how to fully adapt the stabilizers, but at least we have partial gravity control. Any way you look at it, we're making real history here."

He trailed off as the elevator beneath the shuttle engaged, lifting the ship smoothly towards the surface. As it passed by them, Shutaro admired the sleek form one last time. He felt a surge of pride to see the bright red symbol of the Mendou clan adorning the hull. By now this was as much his project as his father's, and he had rarely felt this excited before.

They turned to the monitors as the tail of the ship disappeared from their view. The many cameras placed strategically around the site still showed an ordinary clearing, but as they watched a large portion of the ground suddenly shifted and tilted upwards in several triangular sections. The fake foliage remained perfectly in place, ensuring that once the silo was closed there would be no sign that anything unusual had occurred.

The ship slowly emerged into the sunlight. As the elevator reached ground level, several arrays of locks engaged, ensuring that no matter what happened the underground facility would be well protected.

The command center's countdown started. Shutaro bit his lip nervously as the count neared zero. A lot of work had gone into both the shuttle and the ion engine, but more importantly they had sixteen highly trained personnel onboard. If anything went wrong, he doubted he would be able to forgive himself.

Finally the command to launch rang out. The remaining gantry tower swung neatly away as the ship started to lift into the sky. The initial liftoff was far less impressive than the eruption of fire and smoke that accompanied a traditional launch. But the most important difference became apparent as the shuttle streaked into the sky at speeds far beyond anything humanity had ever achieved before.

In seconds it was over, the shuttle already breaking free of the Earth's atmosphere and emerging into the vacuum of space. A cheer rose up from the excited technicians in the control room when the news came in that the Shuttle had achieved a stable orbit overhead.

"We actually did it," his father commented quietly. "It took a few years, but we finally got that bird off the ground."

Shutaro nodded. "I'm happy for you, father," he replied.

"This is your project as well, Shutaro," his father replied. "We could have done this with traditional rockets, but then this would be the extent of what we have done. Now we're just getting started."

"What are you planning?" Shutaro asked tentatively. "I thought we were just doing a launch and return test today."

"No sense wasting the opportunity," his father replied. "Every time we use this facility, the higher the chances of it being noticed go up." He paused for a moment. "I really should have told you this, but I've already given the crew their first mission. We're going to try to retrieve that relay Invader left out there. It's too important for us to risk it being discovered."

Shutaro's thoughts began to race. If the relay were taken away, Shu-chan would have no reason to stay put. She might even continue on her suicidal journey towards the asteroid belt. "What about Shu-chan?" he demanded.

"What's Shu-chan?" his father asked. He thought for a moment before continuing. "Do you mean that satellite?"

"Yes," Shutaro replied. "Are you going to just leave her out there?"

"I didn't plan to recover it," his father replied. "It's just an old communications satellite with a faulty navigational system, isn't it?"

Shutaro's eyes widened. He'd never told his father any details about Shu-chan's departure, but he had assumed the man had already learned everything from the involved technicians. Apparently they were better at keeping secrets than he had thought. "No, she's not," he insisted urgently.

"Maybe you should explain," his father requested, completely confused by Shutaro's reaction.

Shutaro sighed. "Shu-chan didn't just have a glitch that made her veer off into space, she appears to have developed self awareness. She's even got a personality."

His father chuckled. "It's just a malfunctioning computer, Shutaro."

"No she isn't," Shutaro protested fervently. "She does things on her own. All that data we got, she grabbed it without even telling anyone, just because she was curious."

His father looked doubtful. "Well, what do you want to do with it?" he asked.

"Can they retrieve her as well?" Shutaro asked.

"If you are set on it, I don't see why not," his father replied cautiously. "The cargo bay should be plenty big enough for both of them."

* * *

The shuttle captain's voice came faintly over the speakers. "Sir, we've arrived at the calculated point, but all we're seeing is a bunch of debris. Retrieval operations are about to start, but I'm not confident any of this junk will be useful."

"Roger," the operations controller replied. "Recover what you can, then stand by for further instructions."

Shutaro felt his heart jump. "What about Shu-chan?" he demanded.

His father laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "I guess those Uruseins already found them," he said softly. "I'm sorry Shutaro."

Shutaro shook his head. Due to his command for Shu-chan to be silent, he hadn't heard from her in over two months, but he had always assumed she was fine. It hadn't even crossed his mind that she might have been destroyed since then.

"I need to know for sure," Shutaro replied. Turning to one of the radio operators, he gave the transmitting frequency that they always used.

"Whenever you're ready," the tech soon replied.

"Shu-chan, blackout is over. Please respond," Shutaro barked out.

To his surprise it was barely forty minutes later when they received a reply.

"Hello, Shutaro-kun," a female voice said happily. "It's been so long since we've talked. I've been so bored out here; I hope we don't ever have to do that again. How are things there? You said that you were accepted to Tokyo University, right? I'm really proud of you! Please contact me again soon, We've got a lot of catching up to do."

Shutaro blushed, well aware of his father's bemused expression. "Shu-chan, where exactly are you?" he replied into the microphone. "And what happened to the relay station? It appears to have been destroyed."

"We're calculating the satellite's position right now," one of the nearby technicians replied.

His father nodded. "As soon as you do, tell the shuttle to get over there. I definitely want to see this thing now."

* * *

Shu-chan listened to Shutaro's latest message again, wondering how he knew that the relay was trashed. In any case, it was nice that she didn't have to wait quite as long for him to reply. She had been steadily voyaging back towards Earth for a long time now, but it was still a long ways to go.

She hoped he wouldn't be too angry that she had gutted the relay. She was still trying to come up with a good way to explain herself when a faint glimmer of light caught her attention. Something was coming from roughly the direction of the relay, and it appeared to be heading towards her at high speeds. Deciding her reply could wait, she focused all of her attention on whatever was on its way.

Her powerful lenses, originally designed to peer through the atmosphere and accurately observe everything in Tomobiki, soon gave her a rough picture the incoming ship. It was somewhat relieving that the ship was a plain silver color instead of the tiger striped ships the oni used, but without knowing who it was she was still afraid.

It reached her in mere minutes. She panicked as the ship quickly decelerated and started slowly drifting towards her. Her small maneuvering engines flared to life in short but powerful bursts, trying to push her away from the ever-encroaching vessel. She knew that it was a futile gesture, but rational thought was being overwhelmed by a surprising desire to evade capture.

Her engines abruptly died as the vessel slowly rolled towards her, revealing a symbol she was all too familiar with. The crest of the Mendou Clan boldly adorned the hull of the ship, just as it did her own hull. Her panic quickly turned to cautious excitement.

A crackling voice suddenly hailed her over the radio. "This is Captain Shisaku aboard the Mendou Experimental Shuttle. Please do not move."

"I'm Shu-chan," she replied hesitantly. "What do you want?"

"We have orders to return you to Earth," the man replied. "If you can cancel out your momentum, it would help us quite a bit."

She nearly shrieked in glee. She had traveled so far to see Mendou again, and now it looked like that would happen far sooner than she could have imagined. Obviously he had put to good use the data she had sent him.

Using the last of her fuel reserves, she managed to use her thrusters to stop her forward momentum. The ship came ever closer and to her surprise soon dwarfed her. A multipart door on the back slowly opened as the ship stopped only about twenty feet from her. She watched in silent anticipation as a large robotic arm extended towards her from inside.

The arm stopped just short of hitting her hull, and to her delight several suited humans emerged from the ship. It had been nearly two years since she had seen a human, and never at this close range.

She had to stop herself from giggling as the humans reached her and began carefully guiding the robotic manipulator. In a few minutes they had firmly clamped on to her hull, and she found herself being pulled slowly back towards the ship's cargo bay.

* * *

Shutaro scanned the sky, his excitement evident on his face.

"Should be any time now," his father replied, checking his watch again.

"I think I see it," Shutaro responded, pointing his binoculars at a certain point in the sky. In the distance a small dot appeared and steadily grew larger.

His father listened to his handheld radio for a moment. "That's it all right," he confirmed.

The shuttle came down slowly towards the airfield in a slightly assisted glide. Everyone on the ground watched tensely as it touched down on the runway and rolled to a smooth stop on the many wheels emerging from the belly of the ship. A small but powerful tractor rushed down the runway and quickly towed the shuttle towards the waiting elevator.

As the shuttle disappeared from view, Shutaro's father turned to him with a smile and nodded towards the stairway behind them. "Let's go see what they've brought us," he said happily.

Once the shuttle was safely secured inside the underground hanger, the crew emerged and was hustled off for debriefing. A new army of technicians descended upon the ship alongside several heavy cranes.

Shutaro stood by as the satellite was carefully lifted out of the shuttle. Once several years ago he had saw her, shortly before she was launched into orbit. And he had studied pictures of the satellite in the past few months. Even so he was still surprised by Shu-chan's new appearance.

The majority of the hull was more or less the same, but one area had some several odd devices tacked on, all of them conspicuously tiger striped. Looking at her array of repair arms, he now had an idea about what had happened to the relay.

Shu-chan was placed carefully on a large flatbed and secured in place. Shutaro strolled closer to take a closer look. Several of her antennae appeared to have been damaged during her capture, but other than that she seemed ok.

"Shutaro," his father spoke up from behind him. "I'm going to have Shu-chan transported back to our estate. Would you like to accompany her?"

Shutaro nodded. "If you don't mind, father," he replied.

"Alright then," his father responded. "I'm going to be supervising things here for a couple more days, then I'll be returning as well. We've still got to get the shuttle back to the launch site and make sure none of the locals noticed anything they shouldn't have."

Waving goodbye, Shutaro ran towards the flatbed.

"Young master," one of his black suited retainers called out, "we have a vehicle reserved for you."

"That's ok," Shutaro replied, unwilling to leave the satellite alone. "I'll just ride up here. He glanced at the flatbed's driver. "Is that acceptable?" he asked in a tone that brooked no arguments.

"Of course, young master," the surprised driver replied.

Shutaro had barely gotten settled in when the truck started up and began rumbling towards the elevator. They were nearly back up to the surface when the truck's two-way radio let out a loud burst of static.

"Shutaro-kun?" a very familiar voice asked. "You're there, aren't you? I'm certain that I saw you."

The driver looked at the radio. "Young master?" he asked hesitantly.

Shutaro face was red as he snatched up the handset. "Hello, Shu-chan," he replied as casually as he could. "I'm right here."

"Thank you for bringing me back," Shu-chan said happily, cutting off her transmission to every frequency except the one he had responded on. "Sometimes I worried that I'd never see you again." She paused for a moment. "Are we going somewhere? Those guys put something on me and I can't see anything."

"That's just a tarp," he assured her. "And yes, we're taking you back to Japan."

The driver's eyes widened as he figured out what Shutaro was talking to. He curiously glanced in his mirror at the tarp-covered object they were carrying, but didn't say anything. The elevator was stopping and he needed to concentrate on getting the truck safely aboard their awaiting helicopter.

She was silent for a few moments. "I was planning to just resume orbit," she finally continued. "What's going to happen to me now?"

Shutaro blinked. He hadn't really considered that. After hearing that the relay was going to retrieved, his only thoughts had been to get her safely home again.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I suppose our researchers are going to want to study you."

"They aren't going to take me apart are they?" she asked, a tinge of fear creeping into her voice.

He worriedly glanced over his shoulder at her. "They might, but I'm sure they'll be really careful," he replied. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"I don't know if I like that," she responded. "What if they disconnect something I need?"

"These people built you," Shutaro replied. "They won't break anything."

She huffed. "No, they built a Mendou Clan Communications/Recon/Data-Collection Satellite. I wasn't Shu-chan back then."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. She had always been rather evasive when he asked about anything prior to her leaving Earth.

"Well, I had some circuit damage from when I was deployed into orbit," she explained hesitantly. "And they gave me a self repair program, but it wasn't adequate. So my diagnostic programs kept working on a better program and doing what repairs I could." She paused. "I don't know exactly what happened, but as I kept rewriting my programs and fixing my circuits I started becoming me."

Shutaro's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure I understand," he admitted.

Shu-chan sighed. "I don't understand either," she admitted. "I wasn't smart enough during the early stages to know exactly what happened. In any case my personality grew out of my repair program." She suddenly giggled. "I also kind of did some major modifications to myself while I was out there with that communications relay."

"I noticed," Shutaro replied wryly. He looked up as the truck started slowly rolling up the loading ramp of the waiting helicopter. "We're boarding a helicopter now," he explained. "Anyways, don't worry, I'm going to make sure no one damages you."

She didn't answer for a moment. "I've got all of the subspace communicator components," she admitted shyly. "I can communicate with Oniboshi, but I kept silent like you told me to."

Shutaro nodded. "That's good," he replied. "I figured that was what you had stuck on your side."

"You aren't mad, are you?" she asked, suddenly cautious again.

"No," he replied honestly. "As long as it still works it doesn't matter what it's attached to."

"I thought it would be more useful if I brought it closer to Earth," she continued. "Plus it was really boring out there. I wanted to come back and see you, but I couldn't leave it."

The driver suddenly coughed. "Young Master, I'm going up front," he interjected as he opened his door to get out. "I'll tell everyone else you're busy."

"Thank you," Shutaro replied, starting to feel drowsy. It had been over 20 hours since he had started on his trip to see the shuttle launch. He felt the familiar lurch of the helicopter lifting off and leaned back in his seat. It was going to be a long flight home, but this was as comfortable a place as any to spend it.

"Shutaro-kun?" Shu-chan spoke up.

"What is it?" he replied.

"Are you going to stay with me?" she asked. "I'm kind of scared. I wasn't activated until I reached orbit, so I haven't ever really been on Earth before."

"Yeah, I'll be here," he assured her. He had grown increasingly fond of the satellite during their months of correspondence, and he certainly wasn't going to let anything happen to her now.

"Thank you, Shutaro-kun," she replied. "That makes me feel better."

"It's no problem," he responded, feeling his eyelids starting to droop. "I'm going to take a nap," he announced sleepily. "It'll take us a couple of hours to get to an airport, and then we'll be taking a jet home."

Shu-chan stared at the dark tarp in frustration. She had hoped Shutaro would talk to her until they removed it, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. "Sweet dreams," she murmured softly. That was one of the things people said to each other before bed in television shows.

For the millionth time she wished she could sleep herself. It would certainly help with the tedium. But even if she couldn't see anything or move right now, she had seen a lot of interesting things today. There was plenty of new data to analyze and treasure.


	16. A Suprise Reunion

"Lum."

"What?" Lum murmured sleepily.

"Wake up," the voice requested.

"Not happening," she replied, refusing to open her eyes.

"Come on, Lum, wake up."

"Darling, I'm still sleepy," she protested.

"I've got a surprise for you," he insisted.

She sighed and opened her eyes a bit. "This better be good," she warned.

"It will be," Ataru promised. "Just get up and get dressed."

She sat up slowly. "What are you up to?" she asked suspiciously.

"You'll see," he insisted, helping her stand up.

Lum glared at him irritably.

"Just get dressed," he told her, a mysterious smile on his face.

"Fine," she grumped, making her way over to the closet. "What should I wear?" she asked sarcastically.

"Something nice," he replied, ignoring her tone. "We have guests."

"I can't fit in anything nice," she grouched. "Who's here?"

"You'll see," he repeated.

Picking through her clothes, she found a blouse and pair of slacks that still fit ok. She got dressed slowly, ignoring Darling's impatient expression.

"Ok, I guess I'm ready," she announced, tying her hair back in a ponytail with her ribbon.

"You look nice," he said pleasantly.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I don't," she disagreed.

"Oh, hush," he told her as he opened the door.

She followed him into the main room nervously.

"Lum!" Benten called out happily, peering over the back of the couch. "It's about time you got your lazy rear out of bed."

Lum cupped her hand over her mouth in surprise. "Benten!" she replied excitedly. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"What are we, chopped liver?" Ran spoke up from her seat at the table. Oyuki sat beside her, setting down her tea and politely nodding hello.

Lum looked confused. "Hi," she greeted them. "Why are you all here?" she asked cautiously.

Benten pointed at Ataru. "He said it was your birthday," she replied with a shrug. "So we all came to celebrate it with you, I guess."

Lum looked around at her grinning husband. "It's my birthday?" she asked tentatively.

"On Earth it is," he replied with a shrug. "August Eighth."

"I can't believe you kept track," she murmured. "Thank you, Darling."

He ushered to a seat on the couch. "Go ahead and catch up," he ordered her. "I'm still working on your breakfast."

She stared worriedly after his retreating form. "Darling doing his own cooking worries me," she admitted quietly.

Benten burst out laughing. "Ataru, did you hear that? Lum doesn't think you can cook!"

Lum urgently shushed her with one hand. "Benten's just kidding," she called out, hearing only faint muttering coming from the kitchen. Turning back to Benten, she gave her a warning look.

"So," Benten said, looking around expectantly, "how's everyone doing? I haven't seen any of you since Lum's wedding."

"Fine," Ran replied quickly.

"Things are going as well as can be expected," Oyuki answered next.

"What about you, Lum?" Benten demanded. "I hear you're pregnant?"

"What gave me away?" Lum replied sarcastically, gently patting her belly.

Benten roared with laughter. "You're not that big yet," she pointed out. "I can hardly tell."

Ran nodded. "I told her that the other day," she interrupted.

Oyuki smiled, glad that Ran was behaving.

"What is it, a boy or a girl?" Benten demanded. "And have you picked out a name yet?"

Lum shook her head. "I don't know yet," she admitted quietly.

"Let me know when you do," Benten insisted. "I might not live as close as these two, but I do have a phone."

"Ok, I will," Lum promised. "What have you been up to?" she inquired brightly.

"Me? Not a whole lot," Benten admitted. "I've built a couple more bikes, and I had another run in with those annoying junior high brats." She sighed. "It's been pretty boring lately. I miss being able to fly around the galaxy and not worry about all this war nonsense."

"So do I," Ran agreed. "We can't even get the Space Shopping Network to deliver out here anymore."

"Hah, they'll still deliver to Fukujin," Benten gloated. "But still, I'm forbidden to go out by myself. I only made it here because a couple of our warships were already going this way."

"Lucky us," Ran replied dryly.

"Ran," Oyuki spoke up. "We agreed that you would be on your best behavior, did we not?"

Ran glared at her. "I said I wouldn't upset Lum-chan," she retorted. "Benten's fair game."

"I can handle myself with old sharp tongue over there," Benten interjected. "How's your cow chasing going?"

Ran's eyes flashed. "Are you talking about Rei-san?" she demanded. "He is certainly not a cow."

"If you say so," Benten replied casually.

"And how's your love life going?" Ran asked nastily. "Oh, that's right. You don't have one, do you?"

Benten laughed. "Who needs one?" she asked. "Oyuki and I get along fine being single."

Oyuki looked dubiously at Benten. "I actually have plenty of interested suitors," she admitted. "I merely have not found that special one yet." She smiled while glancing towards the kitchen. "Lum already had first dibs on my favorite one."

A burst of nervous laughter came from inside the kitchen, prompting Lum to shoot a dirty glance in his direction.

"How's that breakfast coming?" she yelled irritably.

"Working on it," Ataru shouted back.

Benten shot Oyuki an incredulous look. "You liked him?" she replied. "I never would have figured it."

"I admit that he has some faults, but Lum has certainly proven that he is able to be tamed," Oyuki replied.

"Yes, he is rather trainable," Lum admitted. "It was a long term effort though."

The angry muttering that faintly emerged from the other room prompting three of the girls to burst out laughing. Oyuki merely allowed herself a slight smile.

"Sorry, Oyuki," Lum apologized. "I'm afraid my Darling is one of a kind."

"Thank the gods for that," Benten replied. "I don't think I could take more than one of him."

"Trust me, it's not a pretty sight," Ran agreed.

Ataru choose that moment to reenter the room, still muttering under his breath. Delivering a plate of food to Lum, he sat down heavily on the other couch.

"What, no breakfast for us?" Benten demanded.

He looked at her with a mock expression of surprise. "It's not your birthday, is it?"

Benten frowned. "I think I liked you better when you were always trying to tackle me," she muttered.

Ataru's eyes lit up. "Benten-sama!" he greeted her happily. "Give me a kiss!"

Even though he wasn't moving, Benten eyed him distrustfully.

"Darling," Lum spoke up between bites, "be nice."

His idiotic grin faded away. "Food's on the counter," he muttered. "Help yourself."

Their guests hesitantly milled into the kitchen.

"Behave yourself," Lum scolded him, trying not to look amused.

"Yes, dear," he replied quietly.

"Aren't you going to eat too?" she asked. "This is pretty good."

"Already ate," he explained. "I can't cook well if I don't taste everything as I make it."

"When do you ever cook?" Lum demanded. "I never see you making anything."

"I occasionally make myself midnight snacks," he retorted. "And I'm always keeping you company when you're cooking."

She stared at him for a moment. "No wonder you're pudgy," she replied. "No more snacking for you."

"I don't eat that much," he grumbled.

She sighed. "You can still go out and get some exercise without me, you know."

Benten laughed as she came back into the room. "Are you two bickering in here?"

"No," Lum replied. "Just discussing Darling's eating habits."

Benten was soon joined at the table by Ran and Oyuki. None of them spoke as they cautiously dug into their breakfast.

"This isn't bad," Benten finally admitted.

"It's not as good as my cooking, but it's pretty good, Darling," Ran agreed.

"You have no concept of being humble, do you?" Oyuki asked.

"Cooking's my specialty," Ran protested.

"Thanks, ladies," Ataru replied, obviously embarrassed.

"Maybe I'll have you start making breakfast once in awhile," Lum chimed in. "This really isn't bad."

"Anytime," he promised.

"When exactly did you get so whipped?" Benten asked.

He cast an irritated look her way but didn't reply.

"Benten, stop being rude," Lum spoke up angrily. "You're on Darling's case every time I see you."

Benten looked surprised. "I was just teasing him," she protested.

"She's fine," Ataru replied easily. "Don't get upset over it."

Lum harrumphed but went back to eating.

Ran giggled. "Lum-chan's always been really protective of Darling," she observed quietly.

Benten looked up. "No kidding," she whispered, not understanding why Lum was so mad. She teased everyone from time to time, even Lum herself. But maybe she had been a little too harsh on the guy.

Oyuki finished her breakfast first. "Thank you, Ataru," she told him politely. "That was very good."

He blushed. "Thank you," he replied bashfully.

Benten discretely glanced at him. Ataru really wasn't acting like the perverted jerk she remembered. He appeared to have grown up quite a bit while she had been gone. Benten shrugged and went back to eating. She supposed that wonders would never cease.

* * *

"What are we doing today?" Ran abruptly demanded. Everyone had been sitting around catching up for the last couple of hours, and she was getting pretty bored. She just couldn't find it in herself to care about Benten's bikes or Oyuki's business dealings. And she knew for a fact that Lum had nothing interesting to talk about.

Everyone's eyes turned to Ataru, who simply shrugged. "We can't really go anywhere," he admitted after thinking it over. "Lum really doesn't need to be out around other oni."

Ran's expression turned grumpy, but she bit her tongue, well aware of Oyuki's cool gaze. "I'm bored," she simply stated.

"Sorry," Lum apologized, pointing at her head. "I'm supposed to stay out of public places until my horns grow back."

Ran pouted for a moment before brightening back up. "You just aren't supposed to be around other oni," she pointed out. "We could go to one of the Nikusuin towns. Hardly any oni go there."

"I guess so," Lum agreed. "I won't catch anything from them at least."

"You sure?" Ataru asked cautiously. He wasn't about to risk Lum getting sick right now.

"Yeah, that'd be fine," she insisted. "Ran's people won't harass us either. They're pretty nice, overall."

"I guess Ran's the exception," Benten observed, earning herself a glare from the redhead. "Don't give me that look," she muttered threateningly.

"Ran was an extraordinarily sweet child," Oyuki spoke up. "Very meek and polite."

"I've had some bad experiences since then," Ran growled. "Mostly thanks to Lum-chan."

"Ran," Oyuki warned her. "Do not start with that again."

Ran settled down immediately. "Well, do you want me to take us over there?" she asked more politely.

"Lum, you drive," Benten decided. "I brought my bike, and picked up Oyuki on the way."

"What's wrong with my driving?" Ran demanded.

"We're already in here," Benten retorted. "And you drive like a maniac."

"Are you trying to start something?" Ran asked, begining to get angry again.

"Not really, but if you want to take this outside, I'm willing," Benten replied eagerly.

"Ran, please calm down," Oyuki calmly requested.

Ran glared at the Neptunian. "I'm not the one starting trouble."

"I am well aware of that," Oyuki replied. "But you know that Benten is purposely trying to start a fight. There is no reason for you to play along."

"Stop ruining my fun," Benten interjected, trying not to laugh.

Ran eyed them both ruefully, but didn't say anything more. Instead she simply turned away from them all and huffed loudly.

"Ran-chan?" Lum asked sweetly from over by the controls, "I need you to tell me where we're going."

The redhead's face lit up, happy that someone was finally being nice to her. "I'll be right over, Lum-chan," she replied sweetly.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Benten demanded.

After landing in a sizeable town and following Ran through a twisting course through the streets, the entire group was begining to ask themselves that same question.

"You'll see," Ran replied flippantly. She was finally in a good mood again and was determined not to let Benten ruin it any more.

"She's lost," Benten told Oyuki just loud enough for Ran to hear.

"I believe Ran knows where she is going," Oyuki replied quietly. "Though I will admit that I would like to know where that is."

"Is it much further?" Ataru piped up, glancing worriedly at Lum.

"No," Ran simply responded.

"Are you doing ok?" Ataru asked his wife. He knew that she still wasn't that used to walking this much.

"I'm fine," Lum replied, looking behind them. "But I hope we're about there."

"What's wrong?" Ataru asked, puzzled by her worried expression.

"I think some guy's following us," Lum replied quietly. "I keep seeing him popping in and out of the places behind us."

Ataru glanced around, but didn't see anyone. "You sure you aren't just imagining it?" he asked cautiously.

"I don't know," Lum responded. "I wouldn't have noticed him, but he's the only other oni I've seen here."

She kept an eye out and sure enough the same oni emerged from the entranceway of a shop they had passed a few moments before.

"See?" she hissed.

"Is something the matter?" Oyuki asked quietly.

Ataru glanced back. "It's that damn reporter that was bugging me the other day," he spat out. "Weirdo must have just been waiting for us to leave home."

"So this man is bothering you?" Oyuki asked.

"Not at the moment," Lum assured her friend hastily. "I don't know what he's doing."

"I see," Oyuki replied, dropping back a few steps behind them.

A few minutes later a muffled curse rang out through the street, drawing back their attention. Ataru had to stifle a chuckle when he saw the oni laying flat on his back, a conspicuous patch of ice the obvious culprit.

"Oyuki!" Lum giggled. "That wasn't very nice."

"No, I suppose it was not," Oyuki replied casually. "Ran, I do hope that we are nearing our destination."

"It's just around this corner," Ran replied, oblivious to Oyuki's trick.

They rounded the corner and her goal finally came into view.

"Oh, I remember this place," Lum spoke up. "We came here a couple of times back when we were kids, didn't we?"

"A shopping mall?" Benten demanded. "You dragged us all this way just to go shopping?"

"Lum-chan and I like these kinds of places," Ran retorted.

"You know that I hate shopping," Benten grumbled.

Ataru looked around as they milled through the doors. "What's with this place?" he asked, looking at the multitude of dark doorways interspersed with a few small shops.

"There's a lot of subspace shop entrances here," Lum explained. "You can't get to these places from anywhere else on Oniboshi."

"Those places are always weird," he muttered grouchily.

Lum sighed. "Darling, if you want to head off on your own, that's ok."

He shook his head. "No, it's fine."

"Come on, Ataru," Benten said, grabbing his arm firmly. "You can keep me company."

"I'll see you later, Darling," Lum called out, giving him an amused look as he was dragged away.

"Now that those two stick-in-the-muds are gone, we can have some real fun," Ran said happily. She glanced at Oyuki. "I know you don't mind shopping, do you?"

"I take a certain interest in observing the merchants of different cultures," Oyuki replied. "So yes, I do expect to have a pleasant time."

"You're strange, ice queen," Ran responded. "But as long as you're not going to gripe, I don't care."

* * *

"I should have went with them," Ataru grumped. "I don't like leaving her alone like that."

"We didn't leave her alone," Benten retorted. "Ran may be bitchy, but she'll take care of Lum. And you know how Oyuki is. Or do you think you could do a better job of protecting her?"

"I guess not," Ataru replied. He sighed heavily. "I just hope Ran doesn't ruin her day. I was just trying to figure out some fun stuff for her to do today. She's been pretty bored lately."

"And you did," Benten told him. "Lum loves to shop, and it's one of the few things that keeps Ran in a good mood too."

"I guess she does," Ataru replied dubiously. "It's not something she did a lot back on Earth."

"That's because she knows you get bored," Benten explained. "For being married, you don't know her very well, do you?"

"That's not true," he protested irritably. "I've lived with her for over three years now."

"Yeah, and how much of that three years were you doing your best to ignore her?" Benten replied haughtily. "I still haven't forgiven you for that."

He shifted his eyes away. "I wasn't ignoring her," he muttered.

"No, you were usually running from her," she recalled

Ataru glared stubbornly at the pavement. "If I didn't keep running, she would have zapped me."

"If you didn't act so lecherous in the first place, that wouldn't have happened," Benten responded.

He glanced up at her. "You don't understand how it was at all," he muttered.

"Then explain it better," Benten requested irritably.

He scratched the back of his head. "Did Lum tell ever tell you about how our relationship started?" he asked in a more serious tone.

"Of course she did," Benten replied. "You beat her in that tag game and she thought you asked her to marry you."

"I had fun trying to get dates with girls, but I was starting to get serious about Shinobu," Ataru continued. "And then Lum came barging in and made my life a living hell. In only ten days I went from being a carefree guy with a nice girlfriend to being a complete wreck. Lum made it impossible for me to even talk to Shinobu, she followed me everywhere, and she electrocuted me even when she was happy."

"That sounds rough," Benten replied. "But that doesn't excuse you being such a jerk to her. Or you chasing every girl you came across."

"I regret how I treated Lum," Ataru stated calmly. "I regret that every single day. But it's not like she was totally innocent either. How would you like it if some guy showed up and told you that you couldn't do the things you liked anymore, and that you had to spend all your time with him?"

"I'd probably sock him one," Benten admitted.

"Exactly," Ataru continued. "But that wasn't an option for me. So I chased girls even harder and tried not to be nice to her, hoping she would get the hint and leave. With her temper she made that pretty easy"

"Well, did you ever consider her side of things?" Benten retorted. "Poor Lum wasn't that familiar with Earth yet, and she seriously thought you were married. That was her first real relationship, you know. She didn't know what to do when you started running off to other girls."

"I know that now," he replied. "And if I could do it over, maybe I would have handled things differently. At the time all I knew was that she was driving me nuts."

"You're just lucky that Lum's so stubborn," Benten told him. "Else she would have dumped you years ago."

"That's true," he responded sadly.

Benten glanced over at him. "Lum always thought you were a great guy though, even if you were a being a jerk. Whenever she called she just gushed on and on about you."

"Really?" Ataru asked.

"Yeah," Benten continued, rolling her eyes. "She complained a little bit, but mostly she just kept talking about how interesting you are, and how you were really fun to be around. I don't see it myself."

Ataru decided to ignore that last jab. "That makes me feel even worse about how I treated her," he replied.

"I figured that she was just happy to be with anyone halfway decent after Rei," Benten explained. "He wasn't ever mean to her, but you know how he is. A total dimwit, and he barely responded to anything but food. After she broke things off she was really depressed for a while. And then she got told she had to go do that tag race, and everything changed. Even before it started she was talking about you."

"So I was just a rebound?" Ataru asked quietly.

"I thought so at first," Benten said. "But she wouldn't have stuck with you if that's all it was. She really fell hard for you."

Ataru nodded but didn't reply. After a few more moments of walking, he looked around. "Where are we going?" he tentatively asked.

"I dunno," Benten replied. "I'm trying to find somewhere that sells bikes, or at least parts."

"There aren't that many places around here," Ataru replied. "Apparently everyone bought stuff like that from Uru, or ordered it from that shopping network."

"Seriously?" Benten whined. "That's lame. Isn't there anything fun to go on this mud ball?"

Ataru shrugged. "I don't get out that much."

"That's pretty boring," she replied disgustedly.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Benten spoke up again. "How do you feel about the whole fatherhood thing?"

"Scared stiff," Ataru replied. "And all these complications aren't helping any."

"Oh," she responded. "You know Lum's going to be pretty bad off if anything happens."

"I know," he confirmed quietly. "Believe me, I know."

"So what are you hoping for?" Benten asked. "Gender wise, I mean."

"I'm back and forth these days," he replied. "And when it comes down to it, that old saying that as long as it's healthy it doesn't matter really starts to hit home."

"I see," she replied, trailing off into silence again.

* * *

Now was his chance, the reporter mused. That weird Earthling wasn't around anymore, and the Princess only had two girls with her. True, one of them appeared to be that Neptunian queen, but from what he had seen on television she was exceedingly polite and calm. They shouldn't give him any problems.

Picking up his pace, he quickly caught up to them.

"Princess Lum, might I ask you a few questions?" he asked politely, startling her.

She turned around slowly, her distaste clear. "I'm afraid I'm not answering any questions right now," she told him, deciding to be polite in return. "I hope that you understand."

"Come on, it'll just take a moment," he asked again. Taking in her appearance, he noticed her clothing was awfully loose fitting, a far cry from her familiar bikini and form fitted dresses. He did a double take as he noticed her horns weren't poking up through her hair. "Can you confirm that you are indeed expecting a half earthling child? Do you realize the implications of such an unprecedented act? And is this related to the fact that your horns are missing?" he asked in rapid succession.

"I believe that my friend has asked you to leave her alone," Oyuki said in her most neutral voice, stepping forward. "And I believe that her husband has told you the same thing."

"Come on, people have a right to know this stuff," the reporter insisted.

"Bug off, you creep," Ran growled, not about to be outdone.

"Ladies, no offense, but this is between the princess and me" the reporter retorted. He smiled imploringly at Lum, intent on ignoring her friends. Was it just his imagination, or was the temperature dropping?

A thick coating of frost suddenly coated him from head to foot.

"What is this?" he demanded.

"Merely a warning," Oyuki replied blithely. "If you continue to bother my friend, I will be forced to take more drastic measures."

"A little frost isn't going to keep me from doing my job," the reporter shot back, starting to get irritated. "I'm just going to keep following you until I have my answers."

A jagged shaft of ice erupted from the floor just inches from his face.

"You will not test my patience any further," Oyuki told him. "If you bother Lum or her husband again, I will not be able to forgive you."

The reporter exhaled, a small burst of fire melting the ice away. "Nice trick, but that's not going to scare me."

"Oh?" Oyuki simply replied. The section of two-story hallway they were standing in was abruptly filled with innumerable shafts of razor sharp ice. A thick lattice cut the reporter from their sight. The few nearby customers stood perfectly still, fixed in place by the jagged ice.

Oyuki turned back towards their original direction, most of the ice disappearing into the air as she did so. Only a smooth wall of ice surrounding the reporter remained solid.

"I do not believe that he will be bothering us again," she stated. "Shall we be on our way now?"

Lum nodded, glancing back at the slightly steaming ice as they continued through the mall. "That guy sure was annoying," she commented.

"I'll say," Ran growled. She abruptly smiled. "If Oyuki's little ice trick didn't scare him, maybe mine will."

"What did you do, Ran?" Lum demanded.

"I just left him a little company in there," she replied.

* * *

The reporter stared at the jagged walls of ice surrounding him on all sides. Hundreds of sharp points jutted at him from every direction, all of them stopping just short of piercing him. He carefully spat a bit more fire, noticing that the ice was barely melting at all. It looked like it was going to be a long cold wait until the ice melted on its own.

"Hello," A sweet little voice suddenly piped up.

He glanced down carefully, trying not to move. Slowly climbing up the shafts of ice was a tiny mechanical doll. The resemblance to the Nikusuin girl was uncanny.

"What do you want?" he asked grumpily.

The doll abruptly frowned as it neared his face. "I don't like you," it stated.

The walls of ice muffled the ensuing explosion, but a few puffs of smoke managed to trickle out.

"That's it," the reporter coughed out. "I'm telling my editor that this is impossible. No scoop is worth this kind of punishment."

* * *

"Bye, Lum," Benten called out, waving as she zipped off with Oyuki in tow.

"I'm going too," Ran announced with a yawn. "I'll call you tomorrow sometime."

Lum nodded. "Thanks, Ran-chan. I really had fun today."

"Me too!" Ran replied as she headed towards her own saucer. "It reminded me of when we were kids."

Lum waved goodbye as her last friend departed. "That was nice," she told Darling as she headed for the couch. "But I'm exhausted."

"Sorry," he apologized, worriedly hovering over her as she sat down.

"No, I'm fine," she protested, waving him away. "Thank you for getting everyone together, Darling. I needed a day like this."

He sat down by her side and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm glad you had fun," he said. "Sorry that you couldn't really buy anything though."

"It's ok," Lum replied. "We had fun just looking." She glanced over at the couple of bags sitting on the floor nearby. "And they all threw in and bought me a few outfits."

"Yeah," Ataru replied. "That was really nice of them," he agreed as he fished around in his pocket. "Here," he said nervously, handing her a small box.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she protested as she popped open the clasp. A fine silver chain with intricate heart shaped links was nestled inside.

"How did you afford this?" she demanded as she lifted the bracelet out.

"I haggled for it," he replied. "And I agreed to tune up the store's truck."

"When did you do that?" she asked as she unhooked the latch and slipped it around her arm.

"A few months ago," he replied casually. "You were off visiting Jariten and your mom." He watched intently as she inspected the bracelet on her arm. "Do you like it?"

He was alarmed to see tears forming in her eyes. "Yes," she cried out, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. "Thank you so much, Darling."

He hugged her back gently. "Are you ok?" he asked with amusement when she didn't let up her tight embrace after a few moments.

"I love you," she replied quietly.

"I love you too, Lum," he told her, kissing her on the top of the head.

She finally looked up at him. "This has been a really great day," she told him sincerely. "You don't know how much all this means to me."

"I wish I could have done more," he replied, wishing their budget wasn't so tight.

She stared at her bracelet for a moment, admiring how the hearts were intertwined with each other. "You did more than enough," she replied quietly. "I couldn't imagine a more perfect gift than all this."

Ataru didn't reply, lost in his own thoughts.

"Darling," she said after a few minutes of silence, "I wish we could just sit here like this forever."

"That would be nice," he agreed, continuing to stroke her hair with his free hand.

"In a few months we won't have this kind of peace," she murmured.

"I know," Ataru replied, glad that she was feeling optimistic again. "I think it'll be worth it though."

"I think so too," she replied.

Ataru sat there quietly for a moment longer, musing things over. "How typical is a kid like Jariten?" he asked. "Like intelligence wise?"

"Ten-chan's pretty special," Lum assured him. "Most oni children develop just like earthling babies.

"That's what I was afraid of," he muttered. "It would have been nice to have a kid who you didn't have to worry about so much."

Lum giggled. "Ten-chan can be a brat though, so I worried about him all the time back on Earth."

"That's true," Ataru replied. "You don't think our kid will be able to breathe fire, do you?"

"It'll have my abilities if anything," Lum told him. "It's a hereditary thing, and Ten-chan gets his fire breath from his father."

Ataru nodded. "That makes sense. I remember seeing your mom zap your father before." He thought about it. "I've never actually seen him using any kind of abilities besides flying."

"Some oni can only fly," she explained. "And some like Rei can't even do that. All he can do is transform."

"I see," Ataru responded. "Well, I hope our kid doesn't shock me constantly."

"I've talked with my mom about it," Lum told him. "She said a kid wouldn't be able to build up a strong shock until it was three or four, and we can teach it not to do that by then."

"That's a bit of a relief," he murmured.

She giggled. "Don't worry, my Darling, I'll protect you. Just don't go slapping our kid around with a frying pan."

"I wouldn't do that," Ataru protested. "As you said, Jariten was a special case."

"I hope our kid has a better temper than his," Lum muttered. "Or mine."

"I would definitely consider that a plus," Ataru agreed earnestly, gaining himself another giggle from his sleepy love.


	17. An Intriguing Project

"Oh, I remember that building," Shu-chan exclaimed happily. "We're only a couple of kilometers from Tomobiki, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Shutaro replied wearily, starting to regret having a peepholes cut in the tarp covering the satellite. It seemed to have eased some of her fears, but now she was more talkative than ever. And all he wanted to do was get some more sleep.

"I saw these places from orbit a million times, but it's all different to see them from this angle," she continued. "Everything seems a lot bigger."

"Is that right?" Shutaro responded with a yawn. He wished their jet could have landed directly at the estate, but his father was trying to garner as little attention as possible from both the government and the aliens. Instead he'd had to suffer through an hour-long ride from the airport with Shu-chan commenting on nearly everything they passed.

"Shutaro-kun?" her voice came through the headphones hesitantly.

"What is it?" he answered in a sharper tone than he had intended.

"We'll be arriving at your estate in a few minutes, won't we?"

"Yes, we're almost there," he confirmed.

"That's where those technicians are, right?"

"Yes," he replied. "Why?"

"You won't leave me alone with them, will you?" she asked fearfully.

"I'll have to," he said. "I'll make sure no one messes around with you though."

"I wish you could just stay with me," she told him.

"I'm going to have to get some sleep pretty soon," he protested.

She was mercifully silent for the next few minutes as the truck traversed the final leg of their journey to the Mendou Estate. As they passed through the front gate, Shutaro let out a sigh of relief, happy that he was almost back to his comfortable bed.

First they were going to have to deliver Shu-chan to the R&D facility. He could just leave that to the driver, but the satellite was nervous enough already. He figured he'd better just stay close until she was settled in.

The truck rumbled down the road and veered off towards the large R&D building. As they neared, one of the large rolling doors slid smoothly open. Shutaro was surprised to see the entire force of technicians waiting inside. He even noticed that several members from their communication center had come down as well. He supposed that his father must have called ahead and let them know what was coming.

As they stopped the truck inside, the engineers swarmed around, all eager to see the mysterious satellite that had given them so much trouble in the past.

Stepping out, Shutaro waved the throng back. "The satellite's already a bit nervous, he explained. "So I don't want you guys scaring her."

The supervisor in charge of Shutaro's projects stepped forward. "We certainly don't want to do that," he said seriously. "Everyone's just really excited. This is the first known case of a true AI evolving, you know."

"Nothing gets done to her unless I specifically approve it," Shutaro ordered. "I promised her that I wasn't going to let you guys rip her apart."

"Heavens no," the technician protested. "We've got a million questions to ask her, but we aren't touching her electronics or her software. We'll let her tell us about that stuff herself. She's much too valuable to risk something going wrong."

"Good," Shutaro replied, leaning back against the side of the truck. "Then go ahead and get her unloaded and put her somewhere stable." He leaned back into the truck's cabin, where he knew the radio was still on. "Shu-chan, you heard them, they promised that they're not going to dismantle you."

"Yes, I heard," Shu-chan quietly replied. Shutaro had to strain to hear her voice. "Thank you, Shutaro-kun."

* * *

Shutaro laid down heavily, his head pounding from exhaustion. It had taken them about a half hour to get Shu-chan situated in the lab. He had stayed close by until the move was complete, and then carefully explained to her that he was going to go get some sleep. She hadn't been happy that he was leaving but had finally quietened down.

He hoped she wouldn't cause any trouble. She had already demonstrated that she could easily override any radio frequency that she wanted. It had taken her only a few seconds to home in on his satellite phone and call him before he had even left the room. She had only said hi before disconnecting the call, leaving him wondering if she was going to be calling him nonstop from now on.

Exhaustion finally overrode his worries, and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"She won't answer us," the supervisor explained in a worried tone. "I don't know what's wrong, but she hasn't said a word since you left."

Shutaro groaned. "I'll be down in a few minutes," he promised. At least they'd had the decency to let him get a good night's sleep before bothering him.

Picking up the satellite phone from his desk, he switched it on. Realizing he had no way of calling her, he put it back down reluctantly. The communications console caught his eye, but the dishes it was connected to were still aimed at her last position in space. It wouldn't be of much use now.

Quickly getting dressed, he headed out of the mansion. Hopefully nothing was wrong with Shu-chan. She had seemed fine when he had last seen her, and the techs had strict orders not to touch anything. Most likely she was just being difficult again.

He called for a jeep to take him down, not noticing until it arrived that he had picked up a tag-along on his way out.

"What do you want, Ryoko?" he asked warily as she hopped in beside him.

"I want to see your satellite," she told him petulantly.

"Now isn't really the best time," he replied.

"I don't care, big brother," she responded. "I didn't get to come see your little shuttle launch, and I've been bored silly."

"If I say yes, you have to promise not to touch anything, and don't leave my sight." Shutaro ordered. "There's a reason you aren't allowed in there by yourself, you know."

"That happened like two years ago," Ryoko protested. "And it was only a little fire."

"There was nothing little about it," Shutaro replied.

"Anyways," Ryoko continued hurriedly, "I just want to see it."

"Fine," he replied, shaking his head. "Just be nice to her, she's acting kind of funny."

"Ok," Ryoko promised happily. It usually wasn't too hard to get her way when she was dealing with her big brother.

* * *

"She's either unable to respond, or she's just flat out ignoring us," the supervising technician explained, gesturing unenthusiastically at the satellite. "Without checking her out, there's no way for us to tell." It appeared that the long hours of trying unsuccessfully to coax a response out of her were starting to wear on the tech's nerves. The presence of Shutaro's sister wasn't making him any more relaxed either.

Shutaro nodded and stared at the satellite for a moment. From just looking it was impossible to tell if she was functioning at all. She could only communicate through her radio transmitters, and aside from her repair arms she had no way to move.

Picking up the short-wave radio handset that they were using, he started speaking. "Shu-chan, can you hear me?"

There was no reply, and Shutaro started to get worried. He knew for a fact that she could pick up the signal easily.

"What's wrong?" Ryoko asked impatiently. "Is it broken?"

Shutaro shrugged irritably. "How should I know?" he replied quietly. "Shu-chan, I'm asking you to respond."

The phone in his pocket started ringing. Fumbling to get it out, he quickly answered.

"Hi, Shutaro-kun," her voice rang out.

"Why aren't you talking," he demanded.

"I don't really feel like talking to them," she replied. "I don't like this place."

"Why not?" he asked, glaring at her.

"There's nothing to look at, I can't move around, and I can't pick up outside signals as well as I'd like." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Besides, these people keep looking at me like they can't wait to start ripping me apart."

"They're just worried about you," Shutaro assured her. "And they already promised they wouldn't do anything."

"I know," she sighed. "But I still don't like it here."

"I don't what I can do to fix that," Shutaro told her sternly. "We don't have anywhere else that's as safe as this place is."

"Could you set up something for me so that I can at least get clear radio signals?" Shu-chan asked hesitantly. "I'm really bored and I feel shut off."

"Fine," Shutaro told her. "But you have to promise to talk to the techs, ok?"

"Ok," she promised.

He disconnected the call. "Ok, Shu-chan, now I know you can use that radio."

"Yes," she replied, much to the delight of the researchers. "I can use it just fine."

"Set up something so that she can get clear signals from outside," Shutaro told the project supervisor. "She doesn't like feeling all cramped up in here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the supervisor asked. "If she starts transmitting outside then she could be discovered."

"You won't do that, will you, Shu-chan?" Shutaro asked.

"No," she promised. "I won't send anything outside of the estate unless you tell me to."

"Hi Shu-chan!" Ryoko piped up from behind him.

Shutaro rolled his eyes and hoped that Ryoko wouldn't upset the satellite any further.

"Hello, Ryoko-chan," Shu-chan replied shyly. "How are you?"

"How did you know my name?" Ryoko demanded.

"She's a spy satellite," Shutaro explained quickly. "Part of her job was to monitor everyone in Tomobiki."

"So you used to watch me all the time?" Ryoko asked. "That's kind of creepy."

"I thought it was kind of fun," Shu-chan replied. "You always do such odd things around the estate."

Ryoko growled. "Don't go telling anyone about what I've done," she insisted. "Not even Shutaro."

"Alright," Shu-chan promised. "But you have to do something for me."

"What?" Ryoko demanded.

"I don't know yet," Shu-chan replied. "But I'm sure it won't be anything unreasonable."

"Fine," Ryoko replied in a flat tone. She suddenly smiled. "I like you," she said cheerfully. "You're very interesting."

Shutaro eyed her nervously. It usually wasn't very safe to be around when Ryoko found things interesting.

"So, are you Shutaro's girlfriend?" Ryoko asked as innocently as she could manage.

Shutaro glared furiously at her as most of the gathered technicians burst out into laughter. His slightly reddened cheeks didn't do anything to curb their mirth.

Shu-chan silently pondered the question for a moment. "I do not believe so," she finally replied. "At least not as I understand the meaning."

"Well, do you like him?" Ryoko pressed on eagerly, enjoying the opportunity to embarrass her brother.

"I like Shutaro-kun a lot," Shu-chan responded quickly.

A fresh round of laughter broke out. Shutaro leaned in close to his sister. "Shu-chan doesn't understand what you mean," he told her sternly. "Stop messing with her."

"I understand perfectly," Shu-chan interjected stuffily. "I've watched lots and lots of television, and I've learned a lot from listening to you as well."

Shutaro shook his head irritably. "I don't have time for this nonsense," he decided. "Shu-chan, don't cause any more trouble." He glanced at the supervisor. "And you guys, take care of that signal problem." Taking Ryoko firmly by the arm, he stalked towards the door.

"I wanted to talk some more," Ryoko protested.

"Tough," Shutaro responded. "I've got things to do, and you can't stay in here by yourself."

"Oh, you're no fun," his sister pouted. "You can't even take a little teasing?"

"Shu-chan is touchy enough already," he retorted quietly as they left the room. "You're just going to make her harder to work with."

"Maybe if you were nicer to her, you wouldn't have these problems in the first place," she replied. "You're always such a grouch."

"I am not," he insisted irritably as he climbed into the waiting jeep.

* * *

Shutaro stared blankly at the wall. He'd said earlier that he had things to do, but it was a flat out lie. With his college entrance exams out of the way, there really anything to study for, and he really didn't have any other interests going on at the moment. His father's surprising invitation to see the shuttle launch had really been the only interesting thing to happen all summer.

His phone rang, and he reluctantly answered it. "This is Shutaro," he replied warily.

"Shutaro-kun!" a familiar voice greeted him. "I finally got a hold of you!"

"They got you better access?" Shutaro guessed.

"Yep," Shu-chan replied happily. "Now I can watch TV again!"

"That's good," he replied. "So are you feeling better about being here now?"

"A little," she admitted. "It's kind of nice to see people again, and everyone's being really polite."

"Are you answering their questions?" he inquired.

"Most of them. They seem satisfied for the moment."

"Thank you," he replied earnestly. "I appreciate you working with them."

"Hey, Shutaro-kun?"

"Yes?" he replied.

"You aren't mad at me for talking to your sister, are you?" she asked hesitantly.

Shutaro furrowed his brow. "No," he replied. "Ryoko was just being dumb and trying to embarrass me."

"I'm not sure I understand," she admitted. "Everyone was laughing and I couldn't figure out why."

Shutaro was silent for a moment as he mulled over how to phrase it. "She was asking if you liked me in a romantic sense," he finally explained.

"Yes, I gathered that," she replied impatiently. "But why is that funny?"

Shutaro swallowed heavily. "So when you said you liked me, you meant romantically?"

"Yes," she answered promptly.

The line was silent for a long time.

"Does that bother you?" Shu-chan asked hesitantly.

Shutaro coughed. "No, not really," he replied. "I'm just not sure how to respond to that."

"Oh... ok," she replied dubiously. She hadn't expected that kind of answer. The people in television dramas usually sounded happy when someone said that they liked them. "Is that because I'm not a human?" she finally asked.

"That's a lot of it," he replied slowly. "I think that maybe you just don't understand the difference between romantic feelings and friendship. I am your first friend, aren't I?"

"Well, yes," she admitted. She thought she understood the difference though. When people said they wanted to just be friends, they didn't mean that they wanted to spend all of their time together, or that they constantly missed the other person.

"We're good friends though, right Shu-chan?" Shutaro asked, trying to cheer the satellite up.

"I hope so," she replied, not sounding any happier.

Shutaro sighed. Things were never simple for him. "So, how is the television?" he asked lamely.

"Oh, it's fine," she replied. "I'm picking up a lot more stuff than I did way out there in space. There's a few good things on right now."

"So you're watching several things at once?" he asked.

"Yes, I can monitor lots of channels simultaneously," she explained. "I'm not picking up nearly as many as I did back when I was in orbit, but this is fine."

"That's pretty interesting," Shutaro replied. It was actually a chilling reminder of how inhuman she was.

"How come there aren't many self aware computers on television?" she suddenly asked. "I've seen a few, but not many."

Shutaro shrugged before realizing that she couldn't see him. "I don't know," he replied. "I don't watch that much TV."

"Do you think there's others like me out in space?" she asked next.

"I would guess so," he answered. "Moroboshi told me about some robotic teacher that Lum-san had. And she brought this huge robot at school one time."

"There wasn't much data about robots or artificial intelligence that I could find in all of my searching," Shu-chan commented. "I don't think the Oni made those. None of their computers seem to think for themselves."

"I have no idea," Shutaro admitted. "If they ever come back, you can ask her yourself."

"I will," Shu-chan decided. "Lum-chan seemed nice. I remember that I had special orders to keep an eye on both her and Moroboshi Ataru."

Shutaro blushed. "Yeah," he agreed. "They were of some interest to me at the time."

"Did you like her?" Shu-chan asked tentatively.

"I guess so," he replied. "Lum-san was quite beautiful. But she was only ever interested in Moroboshi. I never even had a chance"

"What about Miyake Shinobu?" she asked next. "You spent a lot of time with her."

"Shinobu-san's a great girl," Shutaro replied glumly. "Sometimes I wish I'd realized that earlier. But she's happy with that bunny guy now."

"And Asuka-chan, you've broken up with her, haven't you?" Shu-chan continued. "You told me back before we stopped talking that you weren't getting along anymore."

Shutaro chuckled. "I still haven't said anything to her," he admitted. "We kind of just stopped seeing each other."

"I see," she replied. "Is there anyone else that you like?"

"Not really," he answered. "Maybe when I start college I'll have more luck."

"Maybe so," she agreed quietly. "Well, I'll talk to you again later," she promised abruptly.

"Ok," Shutaro replied, but the line was already dead. He put his phone down and leaned back in his chair. She sure was acting strange ever since she had returned to Earth.

Shu-chan closed the connection quickly. It sure was strange here on Earth. She'd desperately wanted to come back home, but not like this. In orbit she could have watched everything in town and picked up frequencies from around the world. Now she was stuck in this room looking at the same few people constantly. And they weren't even very interesting.

Shutaro's behavior was depressing as well. He wasn't interested in any girls, but he didn't seem to want her to like him either. He was still being nice to her, but she was getting the distinct impression that she was annoying him.

A search program she had running in the background suddenly clamored for her attention. It appeared she had finally reestablished her connection to the estate's communication network, and through it the security system. She felt a burst of happiness as digital images started pouring in from the many cameras scattered around.

She picked through the sources quickly, finding the one in the lab in less than a second. She studied herself on the grainy video for a few moments. It was true that she wasn't very sleek looking. And she was rather large. Wiggling a repair arm tentatively, she giggled to see the silly looking appendage moving. One of the passing technicians looked up curiously at the unexpected movement, but she didn't bother to explain.

This wouldn't do, Shu-chan decided. She needed some help.

* * *

Ryoko looked up in surprise as the phone in her room started ringing. None of her school friends ever called, and she preferred to communicate with everyone on the estate with handwritten messages relayed by her Kuroko.

She hurriedly swept away the mess of unfurled diagrams and plans that covered her desk, eventually finding the noisy thing. Picking up the receiver, she made sure to answer in her sweetest voice.

"Hello?"

"Ryoko?" a feminine voice asked.

"Yes?" Ryoko replied cautiously.

"This is Shu-chan," the voice explained, sensing Ryoko's confusion. "We met earlier today."

"Oh, the satellite!" Ryoko exclaimed. "You can use the phone now?"

"Yes," Shu-chan affirmed.

"How cute!" Ryoko replied. "Can you do any other tricks?"

"Tricks?" Shu-chan asked hesitantly. "I've patched myself directly into the estate's phone system. There are no tricks involved."

"Ok, sorry," Ryoko apologized hurriedly, not wanting to offend the thing. "So, what did you want with me?"

"First off, can you tell me about Shutaro-kun?" Shu-chan requested. "I've watched him a lot, but I'd like to know what you think of him."

"Big brother?" Ryoko replied. "He's alright. A bit dumb sometimes, but he's fun to mess with."

"Shutaro-kun is dumb?"

"Not really dumb," Ryoko backtracked. "He's just kind of egotistical and grouchy. And I don't think he has much of a sense of humor." She paused for a moment, trying to think. "He is a really good guy though. He tries his best to keep me safe and he's not purposely mean or anything."

"What kind of girls does he like?" Shu-chan asked tentatively.

"I don't think he has a type," Ryoko laughed. "He used to chase any girl he met."

"Used to?"

"He was sort of obsessed with that crazy alien girl for a while," Ryoko explained quickly. "But then he started dating Asuka-chan and that didn't go well either. Now he doesn't really show any interest in dating. He doesn't even leave the house all that much anymore."

"Poor Shutaro-kun," Shu-chan murmured.

Ryoko was silent for a few seconds. "You really do like him, don't you?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Shu-chan replied. "But I don't think he likes me."

"That's so tragic," Ryoko mused. "But at the same time this has the potential to be truly interesting." She thought for a moment. "Big brother was really worried about you this morning. I think that he does like you, just not particularly as a girl."

"Do you know how I can change that?" Shu-chan asked eagerly.

Ryoko frowned. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I mean, you aren't a girl, not really."

Shu-chan sighed. "I know that," she replied sadly. "Do you think I should just give up?"

"No," Ryoko said quickly, trying to think. "That wouldn't be any fun at all." She thought for a few more minutes. "One thing that would help is if you weren't stuck in that lab," she finally decided. "My brother loves to go out on dates and stuff like that. He hated how Asuka-chan didn't ever want to."

"I can't help that," Shu-chan protested. "Besides, even if I could move I'm too big to do anything."

"Mechanical stuff isn't really my forte," Ryoko admitted. "But that's ok. I'll ask my Kuroko to try to think of something. Some of them are pretty smart with stuff like that."

"One of your Kuroko is currently hanging upside down and peering into Shutaro-kun's room," Shu-chan observed wryly.

Ryoko's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

"I can see anything the security cameras can see," Shu-chan replied.

"Well, if I help you, you've got to continue staying quiet about stuff like that," Ryoko insisted.

"That's no problem," Shu-chan replied. "In fact, I can keep anyone else from seeing him as well, if you'd like."

"Sure," Ryoko replied happily. The guys in charge of the estate's security ignored her retainers, but it was always good to have more privacy for her schemes. They did tend to tattle when she let things get too out of hand. "This could be a very lucrative friendship."

"We are friends now?" Shu-chan asked hesitantly.

"Sure we are!" Ryoko replied. "Just don't tell Shutaro. My plans won't work if he knows anything about it."

"Ok," the satellite replied. "Just don't do anything that is going to make him mad. I don't want him to be angry with me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ryoko promised innocently, glad that there were no cameras that could see her crossed fingers.

"Well, let me know if you come up with anything," Shu-chan replied.

"I will," Ryoko promised before she hung up. She clapped her hands excitedly. This might be just the project to make this dull summer fun again. Plus if it could get her brother out of his funk, that would be worth it as well.


	18. Cybernetic Supreme

"Ok, turn off the cameras now." Ryoko calmly ordered.

A small truck rumbled slowly through the front gate, followed sedately by a very peculiar horse. Ryoko smiled smugly from her seat as they headed straight for the R&D facility. With everyone's attention focused on the far side of the estate, they should make it through totally unnoticed.

Her smile faded as one of Shutaro's black suited retainers appeared by the side of the road with a flashlight. He signaled for them to stop and she dutifully did.

"Miss Ryoko, may I ask what is going on here?"

Ryoko tried to look innocent as she dismounted from her stage horse. "Nothing, really," she replied. "Nothing my brother needs to be concerned with, at least."

"There was some kind of security breach over in Sector 15," the man informed her worriedly. "You aren't heading that way, are you?"

She shook her head. "No, I was heading for my room," she replied.

He gave her a suspicious look, as this road didn't lead to the mansion. "You know you're going the wrong way, right?"

Ryoko nodded. "I tried to tell my driver that," she protested.

"Well, just be careful," the retainer told her. He honestly felt sorry for any intruder that might run into the young troublemaker.

"I will," Ryoko promised as she hopped back on the horse. The two Kuroko underneath stood back up and started walking again, followed closely by the truck.

The retainer shrugged as he watched them disappear into the darkness. He resumed his patrol without a second thought about the matter. As long as Miss Ryoko wasn't actively bugging Shutaro, they didn't have permission to stop her. And besides, he had a lot of good friends in her small army of Kuroko.

* * *

The R&D building was dark and quiet when they arrived. Usually there would be a couple of guards out front, but Ryoko guessed that they had been called out on patrol as well. Security would be relying on the cameras and alarms to tell them if anyone bothered the place, but she had that well under control.

"Ok, please open the door," Ryoko requested into the small radio. The procession scurried inside as soon as the door was up. The lights didn't come on until the door was completely closed again.

"Well done, everyone," Ryoko praised her Kuroko. They all bowed low before resuming their hurried task of unloading the truck's precious cargo.

"I see you made it," one of the gathered technicians greeted her. "No one saw you, did they?"

"No, we're ok," Ryoko assured the nervous man. "I really want to thank you guys for your help."

"Shu-chan's really important to us," another technician spoke up. "So we're happy to help."

"Thank you," the satellite's voice rang out from the radio. "I really appreciate this."

Ryoko smiled. It hadn't been easy, but she had recruited some of the best men in the R&D department to go along with her scheme. Along with her brightest Kuroko, they had a real chance to make this work.

The lid of the crate came off with a screech. The team of Kuroko unpacking it quickly laid out the contents.

"Oh, I want to see!" Shu-chan said excitedly.

"Wait until we're finished," Ryoko cautioned her. "And don't get your expectations too high. This is just a prototype."

"I know, I know," Shu-chan replied eagerly.

The small team of techs swarmed around the parts with their tools ready. It wasn't long before they had the rough frame assembled. They quickly started working on installing the electronics and adjusting the finer components.

Ryoko had been able to get most of the parts built off site, but they had needed Shu-chan's direct input to create the more complicated components. Shu-chan's detailed diagrams weren't enough; she'd had to talk the techs through much of the work step by step. Even after the lab had been working with oni designs for months now, she was still the only one who completely understood them.

A half hour later they were finished. A freshly charged battery was the last thing they installed. It was a nice strong one that should last her a good while before needing to be recharged again.

"Ok," one of the technicians said, giving Shu-chan the thumbs up. "It's ready whenever you are."

Shu-chan immediately switched to the frequency they had set up. After a few tense seconds the mechanical body sat up straight. One arm rose up and the fingers flexed smoothly one by one.

"It controls pretty well," Shu-chan commented. "And the visuals are coming through fine as well."

"Why don't you try standing up?" another technician suggested.

The legs swept around as she struggled to find her balance. After a moment she managed to slowly get the robot in a standing position.

"That's amazing," one of the techs commented excitedly. "No one has been able to get that range of movement out of a bipedal robot."

"They didn't have me controlling it," Shu-chan replied distractedly. She took an unsteady step forward, barely recovering her balance at the last moment. "This is pretty neat," she remarked as she took another step.

She turned around slowly so that the robot was facing her optics. "It doesn't look very human," she said sadly. "But I guess it's better than nothing."

"That's just the basic frame," Ryoko piped up. "They're making some kind of silicone jelly skin to put over it."

"Oh," Shu-chan said. "Do you have it now?"

"No, they're still modeling it," Ryoko explained. "But you need to get used to this thing anyways."

"Aw," Shu-chan complained. "I wanted to see the final product."

"Just wait a few more days," Ryoko admonished her. "They couldn't even start on it until we got this finished." She walked around the robot, inspecting it with a critical eye. "Not bad, if I do say so myself." She looked over at the satellite. "You should start practicing moving like a human. Like making gestures and stuff like that."

The robot's facial structure turned up in a grin, a slightly disturbing sight without skin. "Like this?" Shu-chan asked, resting one hand on her waist and pretending to run the other hand through her nonexistent hair.

"Not bad," Ryoko replied. "You've been watching a lot of television, haven't you?"

"Yes," Shu-chan admitted. She took a couple more faltering steps forward. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," she said happily.

"Practice up," Ryoko told her, holding back a yawn. "I'm going to bed. I do have school in the morning, after all."

"You can practice until four," one of the techs told Shu-chan sternly. "Then we need to hide this thing somewhere. Our boss would kill us if he knew we were using the facilities after hours."

"Don't worry," Ryoko said as she hopped on her horse. "If anyone finds out, I'll make sure my father doesn't let you get canned." She waved sleepily at them. "Good night, all."

"Thank you, Ryoko-chan!" Shu-chan called as the horse and truck left. She'd give them a half hour before she stopped the security cameras from looping empty footage.

* * *

Shutaro stalked grumpily back towards home. It was well after two in the morning, and they still hadn't found anyone prowling around the estate. The motion detectors on the western fence had definitely noticed something though. He wondered uneasily if those aliens were messing around. The oni hadn't done anything in a few months, but he still worried about them.

As he neared the front door, he noticed Ryoko slipping inside. "Hey," he shouted at her. "What are you doing out this late?"

She smiled innocently as her brother jogged up. "I was just taking a stroll," she told him.

"At this time of night? And with a possible intrusion going on?" Shutaro asked incredulously.

"Oh, it's just as safe out here as in my room," Ryoko said. "There are so many people running around that it's probably safer."

He looked at her skeptically. "You're up to something," he declared.

"Why, whatever do you mean, big brother?" she replied as sweetly as she could manage. She yawned, covering her mouth politely with her hand. "I'm going to bed now. Why don't you do the same?"

"If I find out you were behind all this, I'm telling mother," Shutaro told her grumpily.

* * *

She merely waved sleepily as she headed towards her room.

A faint thump against the outside wall startled Shutaro from a light sleep. He jumped up and glanced around wildly, his hand scrabbling for his sword. As soon as his hand found it, he leapt out of bed and crossed over to the window. To his consternation there was nothing there. He glared into the darkness for a moment, his eyes slightly blurry from sleep.

Nothing. Shutaro had been extra nervous ever since the alarm had been set off earlier in the week, and the creepy feeling that someone was watching him tonight wasn't helping. He was positive that he'd heard something this time, but the moonlit yard was empty.

A bit of movement off to the side of the window caught his eye. Something was definitely out there. Determined to catch whatever it was, Shutaro threw the window open and dove out, his sheathed katana at the ready. Landing expertly in a crouch, he glared at the figure scrabbling furiously away from the house on all fours.

"Stop!" he called out, drawing his sword as he raced after it. Whoever it was wore dark clothing like a Kuroko, but they would never act like this. Whenever Ryoko's servants were discovered, they simply bowed and politely took their leave.

The mysterious person managed to get back to their feet and stumble forwards for a few steps before falling flat on the lawn. Shutaro took the opportunity to tackle the intruder, pushing them hard to the ground and pressing the flat of his blade against the side of the person's throat.

"Who are you," Shutaro demanded hoarsely. When he didn't get an answer, he pressed the sword even harder. He could feel the intruder shaking beneath him, but they remained silent.

Deciding he wasn't going to get an answer, Shutaro moved his blade aside and roughly tore off the person's hood. The intruder shrieked in fear, causing Shutaro to recoil in shock.

"You're a girl?" he asked cautiously, struggling to regain his balance. He carefully scrambled off of her back and tried to get a closer look at the frightened intruder.

She rolled halfway over, her frightened eyes glinting in the moonlight. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Shutaro held out his hand. "Why were you prowling around my window?" he demanded.

She didn't take his hand. "I didn't mean to wake you up," she murmured fearfully. "I just wanted to see you."

Shutaro shook his head. "Who are you?" he asked more politely. Intruder or not, she was still a girl.

She didn't reply.

"Are you hurt?" Shutaro asked, gently taking hold of her arm.

She shook her head glumly, but remained silent.

Shutaro carefully helped her to her feet, amazed at how heavy the slender girl was. She kept her head down as she stood up, refusing to look at him.

"I apologize for being so rough, but I asked you to stop," Shutaro said hesitantly. "Still, I wouldn't have hit you if I'd known you were female."

"Please, just let me go," the girl finally whispered. "I didn't want to meet you like this."

Shutaro shook his head. "I need to know why you were out here." He glared at the corner of the house where he knew one of the security cameras was located. "And how did you get past all the security?"

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, she shook him loose and started running again. He was about to chase after her again when she stumbled and fell to the ground hard.

"Did I hurt your leg?" Shutaro asked frantically as he caught up to her.

The girl pushed herself up slowly. "I don't like grass!" she bawled pitifully.

Shutaro wrapped his arm around her back to steady her, then lead her slowly back towards the house. She was just going to hurt herself if she kept falling like that, and he didn't intend to let her go without an explanation.

Throwing open the door, Shutaro pulled her inside as gently as he could. She seemed to have an easier time on the wooden floor, but he didn't let her go until she was firmly seated in one of the chairs.

Switching on the light, he looked his captive over carefully. She was certainly a cute girl, with pale skin and beautiful medium length black hair that shone almost blue in the light. When she glanced up at him for an instant, he noticed that her eyes were an unusual dark blue hue as well. She looked to be around his sister's age, but it was hard to tell.

"Now then," he said as he calmly settled down across from her. "What's your name?"

"Sayomi," she answered quickly, her eyes fixed firmly on her lap.

"Ok, Sayomi-san," he addressed her politely, "why were you sneaking around out there?"

She nervously started fidgeting with her hands. "I don't know," she said quietly.

"Earlier you said something about wanting to see me?" he reminded her sternly.

She nodded almost imperceptibly. "I'm sorry," she apologized again.

"How did you even get on the estate?" he asked more gently. She was still a nervous wreck, as if she expected him to attack her again.

She kept her head down and didn't say anything for a few minutes. "Ryoko-chan said tha-" she finally started to say.

"You're one of Ryoko's friends?" Shutaro interjected.

"Yes," Sayomi replied hesitantly.

"Well, that explains why security didn't bother you," Shutaro said, sounding relieved. "Did Ryoko ask you to spy on me?"

She shook her head. "No," she answered.

Shutaro shook his head. He wasn't going to get anything useful out of her at this rate. As he stood and reached for his phone, he was chagrined to see her flinch away from him. Another wave of shame swept over him at having been so rough.

"Can someone get a hold of Ryoko?" he asked into the phone. "One of her friends got lost or something."

He held for a couple of minutes while his message was relayed. "Ok," he finally replied before hanging up the phone.

"Ryoko's on her way down," he assured the girl, sitting back down slowly so as not to frighten her again. "I must apologize again for my behavior earlier. Are you certain that I didn't hurt you?"

She nodded. "I'm ok."

He frowned and looked away. "I wouldn't hurt a lady for anything in the world."

"I know," she replied. "It was my fault. Please don't be upset."

Shutaro sighed, but didn't say anything more until his sister arrived.

Ryoko knocked once before roughly pushing the door open. "What's going on?" she demanded grumpily.

"I found your friend wondering around outside," Shutaro replied, trying hard not to sound irritable. "Does she have a room to stay in?"

Ryoko looked at Sayomi, obviously confused. "What are you doing here?"

Sayomi shot her friend a warning glance. "I guess I just got lost," she replied quietly. "Could you show me where that room was again?"

Ryoko frowned. "Ok..." she replied slowly. "Come on, then."

Shutaro silently watched the girl follow his sister down the hall. She was still walking funny, and he just hoped that she wasn't hurt.

* * *

"Ok, what's going on?" Ryoko demanded the second they reached her chambers. "And what happened to your voice?"

"I messed up big time," the girl replied, staring at the carpet. "Shutaro-kun hates me now."

"What in the heck did you do?" Ryoko insisted. "And I was having a nice dream, so this better be good."

The girl sighed. "I just wanted to see him. He hasn't visited me in a couple of days and I was really lonely."

"The middle of the night isn't a great time for stuff like that." Ryoko said irritably. "And I thought we agreed that you wouldn't go see him until you could control yourself better." She plopped heavily into a chair. "Well, go on," she prompted impatiently.

"Well," the girl continued hesitantly, "I kind of tripped in the grass and woke him up. And I tried to sneak away, but he caught me."

"And?" Ryoko said, starting to get interested. This had all the makings of a romantic comedy.

The girl shuddered. "I don't think this body was a good idea," she whimpered. "I told him a fake name, and he thinks that I'm just one of your friends. If we get rid of this thing, then he'll never know it was me."

Ryoko's eyes widened. "He doesn't know who you are?" she whispered excitedly. "That's great!"

"I don't understand," the girl replied miserably.

"What name did you give him?" Ryoko demanded.

"Sayomi," the girl answered.

"Sayomi..." Ryoko repeated, rolling the name around in her mind. "It's not bad, but make sure you don't go around calling yourself Sayomi-chan. Not many people have that weird habit of referring to themselves like that."

"Huh?" the girl responded, totally confused.

"From now on, your name is Sayomi," Ryoko told her sternly. "And under no circumstances are you going to tell him who you really are. Make sure you keep your voice just like this too." She bit her lip and moved over to the window to think for a moment.

"I don't know what you're planning," the girl told her, "but I just want to forget all of this ever happened."

"Don't you see?" Ryoko replied, clapping her hands together. "This is perfect. Big brother might not have been interested if he knew who you really were. But if he thinks that you're just some schoolgirl, then you've got a much better chance at winning his heart!"

"I don't want to trick him into liking me," the girl wailed.

"Listen," Ryoko insisted, grabbing her friend's shoulder, "Love is like a battlefield. It's great to talk about being all noble and honorable, but if you want to win, sometimes you've got to be a little sneaky." She looked the girl in the eyes. "You do want to win, don't you?"

"I just want Shutaro-kun to like me," the girl replied meekly.

"Then it's decided," Ryoko told her firmly. "You're... Aoki Sayomi now. That's a pretty common surname." She paused for a moment. "And don't call big brother Shutaro-kun anymore, at least not until you become good friends. Call him Mendou-san. That should help keep him in the dark."

"I don't know about this."

Ryoko smiled deviously. "Just do what I say, and I guarantee that this will all turn out wonderfully."

* * *

"Ryoko," Shutaro called out, rushing down the hall to catch up to her. "Wait up."

Ryoko stopped. "Good morning, big brother!" she greeted him warmly. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," he replied curtly. "Is your friend ok?"

"Sayomi-sempai?" she asked casually. "Yeah, she was just fine once I got her calmed down."

"That's a relief," Shutaro replied. "I was afraid that I'd hurt her."

"What did you do to the poor girl?" Ryoko teased. "She was nearly in tears."

He looked away. "I thought she was an intruder, so I kind of pinned her to the ground."

"It isn't like you to be so rough," his sister rebuked him. "She did have some interesting bruises, but she didn't tell me exactly what happened."

He bit his lip. "Is she still here?" he asked hesitantly. "I'd like to apologize again."

"No," Ryoko answered. "She went home first thing this morning."

"Oh," Shutaro replied, sounding a bit disappointed. "Is she one of your friends from school?"

"Yeah, but she's a year ahead of me," Ryoko explained."

"I see," Shutaro said, trying not to sound too interested. "So she's a third year student?"

"Yes," Ryoko confirmed neutrally, hiding her glee. He was already nibbling at the bait all on his own. She knew needed to keep the information she gave him to a minimum though. The more mystery she fabricated, the more intrigued her brother was likely to get.

"Well, please tell her that I'm sorry again, and give her my best regards," Shutaro requested.

"Ok," Ryoko promised.

He nodded and abruptly peeled off into a side room, leaving her to continue down the hallway by herself. That wasn't good. He was definitely interested, but he wasn't trying to make any first moves. She wondered what exactly had happened to the old confidant big brother that she used to know.

* * *

"Ok, time to revise our plans," Ryoko announced.

Sayomi sat up quickly. "What happened?" she asked eagerly.

"He wanted to know if you were alright," Ryoko relayed, "and to apologize again."

"It wasn't his fault," Sayomi protested weakly.

"At least you're still on his mind," Ryoko interjected. "But that's not good enough."

"It's not?" Sayomi asked.

"Of course not," Ryoko scolded. "If he's going to fall in love with you, we need more than that."

"What should I do then?"

Ryoko thought for a moment. "Give him a call right now. Let him know you're all right. And make sure you don't apologize or give any sort of explanation for last night. He likes confidant girls." She paused. "Have you called him as Shu-chan in the last couple of days?"

"No," Sayomi replied glumly. "He's usually too busy to talk long."

"Well, make sure you give him a call at least every couple of days," Ryoko said, "We don't want him getting suspicious. Just space them out."

"I can do that," Sayomi promised. "I still don't know about all this deception though."

"It's for a good cause," Ryoko retorted hurriedly. "Now let's practice what you're going to say."

* * *

As the phone rang for the tenth time that afternoon, Shutaro tossed his pencil down and slammed his book shut irritably. It didn't seem like anyone could make a decision without him today.

"Hello?" he answered wearily.

"Is this Mendou-san?" a feminine voice asked.

"Yes," he replied, softening his tone.

"This is Aoki Sayomi," she explained. "Ryoko-chan told me that you were concerned about me. I just wanted to thank you for your concern, but I'm fine now. I was just a little shaken up last night."

"I'm glad to hear that," Shutaro replied sincerely. At least she didn't seem scared out of her wits anymore.

"So I hear that you're going to Tokyo University?"

"Uh, yeah," Shutaro replied. "I'm going for a degree in business management."

"I would love to go there, but I just don't know if I can make it," Sayomi gushed. "Do you like it there?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Shutaro answered, settling back in his chair. "Once you get in, it's not nearly as stressful as preparing for the entrance exams was."

"I hope so," she replied. "It seems like all I do these days is study." She sighed dramatically. "It's not like there's anything else for me to do around here."

"Why's that?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I just moved here this summer," Sayomi explained shyly. "My father got transferred from Kyoto, and I haven't made many friends yet."

"I see," Shutaro replied. "Well, I'm sure if you keep hanging around with my sister that you'll make a lot of friends. For some reason she seems to be rather popular."

"I guess so," Sayomi replied dubiously. Shutaro was being awfully dense.

"If you wanted, I could show you around town sometime," he told her casually.

She blinked. "Ok, that sounds nice," she replied as calmly as she could manage. "When would be a good time for you?"

"How about tomorrow?" he asked hesitantly.

"Great!" she replied. "What time?"

"Ten?"

"Ok," she agreed.

"Would you like for me to have someone come pick you up?" Shutaro asked.

"Uh...no, that's not necessary," she replied quickly. "I could just meet you there, if that's ok."

"Sure," he agreed easily.

"All right," Sayomi replied cheerfully. "I've got to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"I'll be looking forward to it," he responded.

"Bye," she added quickly before hanging up.

Shutaro smiled as he turned back to his homework. She was a cute girl, and he did want to make up for the way he had acted the night before. Maybe he hadn't made as bad of an impression on her as he'd thought. Now he just needed to make sure that he didn't manage to bungle everything up tomorrow. His pencil clattered back onto the desk as he started wondering what they were going to do.

* * *

"Not bad, not bad at all," Ryoko admitted. "I didn't think he was going to take the hint at first, but you pulled it off."'

"That was stressful," Sayomi replied, sitting up against the wall. "I hate lying to him like that."

"Don't worry about it," Ryoko told her. "This is the best way to get big brother to warm up to you."

"And what if he finds out what I really am?" Sayomi asked.

"If he falls in love with you, it won't matter," Ryoko replied, clasping her hands together. "I just know this is going to turn out great!"


	19. Test Run

"Hi!"

"Good morning, Aoki-san," Shutaro greeted her with a low bow. "I see that you are a lady who believes in punctuality." He quickly looked her over. She was definitely a cutie, especially without the baggy black outfit she had been wearing last time. For today she had chosen a red knee-length skirt and a lovely white blouse that showed off her slender build much better.

Sayomi giggled. "I always like to be on time," she responded cheerfully. "Are you ready to show me what this town has to offer?"

"Sure," he replied, closing the door behind him. "Do you mind if we walk? It's a nice day out."

"That's fine," she agreed nervously. Hopefully she could keep from falling; she'd been practicing almost nonstop since that incident outside his window.

Shutaro started down the street slowly, taking his time. Sayomi kept her hands folded together nervously and walked silently beside him.

"So," he spoke up, "Have you explored Tomobiki at all before?"

"Not really," she replied. "I've mostly just been back and forth between school and home."

"What part of town do you live in?" he asked curiously, daring to glance at her.

"It's not too far from our school," she replied. "Just a few blocks to the south."

"Ah," he replied. "So you really haven't been around town much."

"Where are we going now?" she asked hesitantly.

"I was going to show you the shopping district first," Shutaro explained. "Unless there's somewhere particular you want to go."

"No, that's fine," she quickly assured him. "I was just curious."

"Ah," he replied, wondering why he felt so nervous today. He'd been on tons of dates in the past and never felt like this. True, it had been awhile, but that shouldn't matter that much.

"So, what do people do for fun around here?" Sayomi prodded him. Ryoko had drilled her extensively the night before on good topics.

"Probably the same kind of stuff that they did back in your hometown," Shutaro responded. "There's a few dance clubs, some movie theaters, a big park, and there's lots of shops and restaurants to pick from."

"I like watching movies a lot," Sayomi responded.

"I don't go much," Shutaro admitted. "We've got a nice little home theater on the estate, and access to the newest releases."

"What do you like to do?" she asked more pointedly.

"Me?" Shutaro asked, suddenly flustered. "Well, I enjoy taking walks, and I enjoy a variety of athletic pursuits." He looked at the sky while he thought for a moment. "I used to throw a lot of parties, but I guess I haven't had any in a while."

"Why's that?" she prodded.

"Well..." he trailed off. "Most of the people I used to hang out with either moved away or moved on with their lives, I guess," he finally responded. "With all the studying for entrance exams, I didn't have much time for partying anyways."

"I see," she replied. "Well, you don't have to worry about that now, at least."

"That's true," he agreed. "I guess I should try to get the old gang together again sometime." It wasn't something he honestly had any interest in. Shinobu would undoubtedly show up with her boyfriend, and without Lum and Moroboshi around to cause trouble it just wouldn't be the same.

Sayomi nodded. "That sounds like a lot of fun," she remarked. "If you do, you should give me a call." Ryoko had been firm that she needed to be confident today.

"Ok," Shutaro promised nervously. He hoped that she didn't expect him to host a party anytime soon now.

"Hello," a familiar voice spoke up from behind them. Shutaro rolled his eyes, praying desperately that it wasn't whom he thought it was.

It was. "Hello there, Cherry," Shutaro greeted the tiny monk as politely as he could.

The monk stepped up quickly to the pair. Sayomi eyed him nervously as he slowly circled her, his staff clasped firmly in one hand. She had observed the monk before, and trouble seemed to follow him closely.

"Who's your friend?" Cherry piped up.

"This is Aoki-san," Shutaro introduced her. "Aoki-san, this is Cherry, Tomobiki's resident wandering monk."

"You're being unusually polite today, Mendou," Cherry observed, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Are you by chance trying to impress this pretty girl?"

Shutaro blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, careful to keep his voice neutral. "But I'm afraid we really need to get going."

"I see," Cherry said, stopping in front of them and tapping his staff firmly on the ground. "Young lady, are you aware that you have no spiritual presence?"

Her eyes widened and she stepped back a bit, giving him a scared look.

"Cherry, stop being a pest," Shutaro rebuked him, his former politeness abruptly gone. "I'm sorry Aoki-san, he's well known to be a bit deranged."

Cherry grunted. "Fine then," he replied, stepping out of their way. "I just thought you should know."

"Keep your weird thoughts to yourself next time," Shutaro retorted. Turning back to Sayomi, he held out his arm. "Shall we be going?" he asked her apologetically.

"Ok," she replied meekly, taking the offered arm.

* * *

Ryoko watched from a safe distance as they continued down the street, Sayomi nervously keeping a light grip on her brother's elbow. That had been a close one, but luckily Cherry's own bad reputation had foiled his attempt to cause trouble. Waiting until they were out of earshot, Ryoko advanced steadily on the hapless monk.

"Oh, Miss Ryoko," Cherry greeted her warmly. "I'm surprised to see you out here all by yourself."

"I'm on a mission," she explained hurriedly. "Listen, I need you to stay away from Satomi-chan. She's my friend and I don't want you messing up her chances with my brother."

Cherry studied her earnest face for a moment. "There's something strange about that girl, yes?"

"Yes, but she's not an evil spirit or anything like that," Ryoko assured him. "So it's nothing you need to be worried about."

"If you say so," Cherry agreed. "Still, I feel like Shutaro should know whatever secret you're keeping from him."

Ryoko sighed. "How about this?" she replied. "If you won't say any more about it, then I'll get my Kuroko to deliver dinner to you for a month."

His eyes widened in anticipation. "What kind of dinner?" he asked eagerly.

"Whatever you want, within reason," Ryoko promised. "Just make sure you keep your promise."

"If you'll vouch for the girl, then that's good enough for me," Cherry told her. "My lips are sealed."

* * *

"These leaves are so pretty!" Sayomi exclaimed.

Shutaro smiled. It was a bit amusing how excited the girl got over the most mundane things. It was refreshing to spend time with someone so full of life, but from the way she acted Kyoto might as well have been on the moon.

"Haven't you seen the trees in their fall colors before?" he asked curiously.

"Well, only from a distance," she replied quickly, desperately trying to come up with a reason for her enthusiasm.

"How come?" Shutaro asked. "I know Kyoto has plenty of nice parks."

"I was a weak child," she smoothly lied. "And I wasn't allowed out in the cold air much."

"I'm sorry," he hastily apologized. "Are you ok now?"

"Yes, I'm much stronger than I used to be," she assured him. "So don't worry about me."

He nodded, but thought back to how much difficulty she'd had walking that night. Not only had he tackled a girl, he'd tackled a girl with possible health problems. That had to be a new low for the Mendou clan.

"Listen," he said after they had walked for a few more minutes, "I'm really sorry about the other night."

"Don't be," she replied flippantly. "I'm quite embarrassed about the whole incident. I'd really rather just forget that it ever happened."

"Well, ok," Shutaro replied hesitantly.

She suddenly linked her arm around his and tugged insistently. "Come on," she told him urgently. "I want to see more of this place."

"Of course," he replied, trying to calm his nerves. She was certainly forward, and that was something that he didn't normally care for too much. But at the same time she had an air of innocence about her that he found enchanting.

Their random wandering soon led them to the park's central plaza. Sayomi's eyes immediately locked onto the large fountain in the center.

"Can we sit there for a minute?" She asked eagerly. "This place is really pretty."

"Sure," Shutaro replied. He hoped that she wasn't getting tired already.

Sayomi sat down carefully on the lip of the fountain and turned around to watch the water streaming down. Shutaro settled down nearby and took the opportunity to study her for a moment. There was something very different about the girl, though he couldn't quite pin it down.

She shifted her attention away from the fountain and caught Shutaro watching her intently. "Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

He blushed and looked away. "No, nothing's wrong," he replied. "I was just thinking about something."

She scooted a bit closer to him. "What were you thinking about?" she inquired cheerfully.

His blush deepened. "I was just thinking that I should come out here more often," he replied. "I haven't been here in months."

"It is beautiful here," she agreed leaning even closer. "I'm really glad we came."

Shutaro coughed nervously. "I am too," he admitted. "I've had a lot of fun today."

"Did you really?" she asked earnestly. "I've been afraid that I was annoying you."

He turned back to her. "No, not at all," he insisted. "Why would you think that?"

She smiled and looked down, suddenly feeling shy. "I don't know," she drawled. "I'm sure you've been all these places and seen everything a hundred times already. I must seem really naive to you."

"A little bit," he admitted. "But that's not a bad thing."

"You don't think so?" she asked hesitantly. "I thought you only liked sophisticated and confident girls."

"Did Ryoko tell you that?" Shutaro asked, clearly embarrassed.

Sayomi nodded shyly.

Shutaro was silent for a moment. "Hey, do you feel like getting something to eat?" he asked abruptly.

Her eyes widened. "I guess so," she replied nervously. Eating wasn't something they had practiced yet.

"If you aren't hungry, we could go for tea or coffee instead," he suggested.

"Whatever you want to do is fine with me," she told him.

He hopped up. "There's a nice restaurant that's not too far from here," he told her, offering to help her up.

She took his hand and rose to her feet carefully. "Ok," she replied cheerfully.

* * *

"That was pretty good," Shutaro commented. "I'll have to remember that place."

"I enjoyed it as well," Sayomi replied quietly. She'd somehow managed to mimic him well enough to avoid arousing suspicion, but it hadn't been easy.

"I guess we ought to start heading back now," he said regretfully. "It's getting dark already."

"I suppose so," she agreed, looking up at the sky. "It's a shame that it gets dark so early this time of year."

"Yeah, it is," Shutaro agreed. He thought for a moment. "You said that you lived over near your school?"

Sayomi nodded nervously. "Yes," she affirmed.

"Well, I'd really like to escort you home," he explained. "Tomobiki's a pretty safe town, but I don't like the idea of a young girl walking alone at night."

"That's really not necessary," she protested. "It's not that far from your estate."

"So it won't be any trouble," he countered. "What street is it on?"

She panicked. "Um... I forget the name of it," she responded quickly. "Let me think for a moment."

"Ok," Shutaro replied, clasping his arm nervously behind his back. She sure was acting strange all of the sudden. She'd been unusually nervous at the restaurant too. He hoped that he hadn't said anything to offend her. Everything had been going really well until then.

* * *

"Ryoko-chan!"

"What?" Ryoko hissed into her phone.

"Shutaro-san really wants to walk me home."

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "I didn't think about that," she admitted quietly. "Uh... where did you tell him you lived?"

"A couple of blocks south of your school," Sayomi replied quickly. "I didn't get more specific than that."

"Ok,' Ryoko replied, trying to think. "One of my Kuroko lives in that area. I'll call ahead and let him know you're coming, and you just follow my directions."

* * *

"Ok, we need to go left here," Sayomi announced happily.

Shutaro nodded. "At least you can find your way around well," he remarked casually. She had seemed distracted for a few minutes, but now she was back to her usual cheery self again.

"I have a really good memory when it comes to places, just not with names," she explained bashfully. Taking a chance, she stepped in close and slipped her arm around his. "It's getting chilly out here," she complained, hoping Ryoko's suggestion would work.

"I should have brought a jacket," he replied nervously. Hoping that he wasn't being too forward, he gingerly extracting his arm and he wrapped it around her shoulders. "Does that help any?" he asked.

"A bit," she replied, snuggling close to his side.

Shutaro blushed, but didn't move away. "The stars are starting to come out," he pointed out, trying to sound casual.

"They're twinkling!" she exclaimed, blinking a couple of times as she gazed up into the sky. "I never knew what that meant till now."

Shutaro nodded. "I believe it's caused by turbulence in the atmosphere," he explained distractedly. "Haven't you ever watched the stars before?"

She looked embarrassed. "Not really," she admitted. "I was told that the night air was bad for me."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized hastily, hoping that she really was healthier now.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," she replied quietly, mentally kicking her self. She knew that she needed to stop saying stupid things like that, but they just came out. She found herself somewhat missing the days when she could carefully review every word before sending them out. But with Shutaro snuggled close by her side, she decided this was much, much better.

* * *

"Well, I guess we're here," Sayomi announced hesitantly, staring at the modest house Ryoko had directed her to.

Shutaro nodded. "Well, I had a lot of fun today," he told her. Regretfully releasing her, he stepped back and bowed slightly. "I hope that I didn't bore you too much."

"I had a wonderful time," she assured him. "Thank you for showing me around."

"It was my pleasure," he insisted, his eyes fixed on the sidewalk. "Do you think that you might want to go out again some time?"

"Yes," she answered quickly. "I would love that."

He smiled, gaining a bit more confidence. "I'm glad to hear that," he told her.

She beamed back at him, and it was a moment before Shutaro was able to continue.

"Well, I suppose I should get going," he finally told her.

"I guess so," she replied, regretfully turning towards the door. "Goodnight, Mendou-san."

"Goodnight," he replied formally.

She opened the door cautiously, discreetly watching Shutaro slowly walk away after making sure she was safely in.

"You must be Sayomi-chan," A friendly looking man greeted her once she was inside. "My name is Jiro-san, it's a pleasure to meet you.

"Nice to meet you," she replied shyly. "I'm sorry to intrude like this."

"Think nothing of it," he assured her with a wide smile. "Mistress Ryoko has been very kind to me over the years, and this is the least I can do in return."

They waited silently in the hallway for a couple of minutes until a soft knock came on the door.

"That would be Ryoko-chan," Sayomi explained. "Thanks again," she told him earnestly.

"You're welcome anytime," he assured her, opening the door.

"Thanks for the help, Jiro-san," Ryoko told him hurriedly, grabbing Sayomi by the arm. "I've got to sneak you back home now."

"Have you considered having her dress as a Kuroko?" Jiro suggested. "One more wandering around wouldn't arouse suspicion."

"Already tried that once, but she got caught," Ryoko explained. "Also she's too short to pull it off well."

He nodded. "Well, if you need any more help, just let me know."

Ryoko bowed and left, tugging Sayomi along. "How did it go?" she demanded as soon as they were outside.

"Wonderfully," Sayomi replied. "Shutaro-kun is so nice and considerate. And we went so many interesting places. Everything's so different when you aren't looking at it from high up."

"I'm sure it is," Ryoko replied.

"I was so nervous though," Sayomi admitted. "He probably thinks I'm weird now."

"Big brother's kind of weird himself," Ryoko replied casually.

They walked on in silence for a few more minutes before Sayomi spoke up again. "I still feel guilty telling him so many lies."

"Can't be helped," Ryoko replied quickly. "You're in too deep to back out now."

Sayomi sighed. "I don't know. Even if he falls in love with me like this, is he really falling in love with me?"

"Look at it like this," Ryoko responded. "Aside from your past and where you live, did you lie about anything else?"

"No, not really," Sayomi admitted.

"So did you act like yourself today?" Ryoko prompted her.

"I guess so."

"Then it's still you that went on this date, no matter the petty details," Ryoko replied firmly.

"I hadn't thought about it like that," Sayomi admitted.

"Don't worry, we'll figure a way to explain it all someday," Ryoko promised quietly.

* * *

"Did you have a good time on your date, big brother?" Ryoko asked after dinner.

He shot her a suspicious look. "As a matter of fact, yes I did," he replied. "Did you already talk to Sayomi-san?"

"Not tonight," Ryoko replied. "But last night she let me know you were going out today."

"I see," he replied. "Do you consider her a real close friend?"

"Pretty close," Ryoko replied cautiously, not sure where he was going with this. "We only met when this semester started though."

"She's a really great girl," Shutaro confided. His face suddenly grew concerned. "Does she have any health problems that you know of?"

Ryoko shook her head. "She seems ok to me," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"She mentioned that she was often ill as a child," Shutaro replied. "And she seemed really unsteady the other night."

"She told me that she used to have a weak constitution, but that was in the past," Ryoko admitted. "And you did knock her down the other night."

"That's true," he replied. Looking up at her suddenly, he clenched his fists. "I need to ask you something important."

"What is it, big brother?" Ryoko replied.

"I know we've had our differences over the years, but please be honest with me," he firmly requested. "I really that think I might like Sayomi-san, but the fact that she's your friend makes me a little worried. You've always loved playing tricks on me, and I need your word that she isn't just a pawn in one of your little games."

Ryoko was nothing if not an actress. "She's just a friend of mine," she protested, appearing hurt. "You're so suspicious these days."

"Do you swear that?" Shutaro insisted. "Before I go any further, I need to know for sure."

"I swear," she lied. Even she felt a little guilty now, but this was for his good as well. "Sayomi-sempai isn't part of any of my plots. I was as surprised as you were the other night." That part was true at least.

"Ok," Shutaro replied, looking relieved. "Thank you, Ryoko. That's a big load off my mind." He started nervously tapping his fingers together. "Please don't tell her that I asked that," he requested.

"Of course not," Ryoko promised. She hadn't planned to anyways. Sayomi was nervous enough without worrying if Shutaro was on to them.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly apologized. "I haven't felt like this about a girl in a long time, and it's just making me kind of nervous." He stood up with a smile. "I'm going to my chambers," he announced. "Thank you again."

"Any time, big brother," Ryoko replied quietly.

* * *

It was well past midnight, but time meant nothing to the one known as Aoki Sayomi. She twirled and pranced about the lab relentlessly, much to the consternation of the few technicians in attendance.

"We do need to check you out sometime tonight," one of them finally told her bluntly. "This body is still a prototype, and you've been out all day."

"I feel fine," she protested, "And I need more practice."

"Practice on your own time," he retorted good-naturedly. "We've got to be back here in the morning."

"Fine," she said, releasing her control of the body. The robot sunk slowly to the floor, all traces of her earlier liveliness instantly fading away.

"Better?" Shu-chan's voice rang out over the radio.

"Thanks, Shu-chan," the technician replied. "I'm sure we'll have it ready to go again in just a couple of hours."

"We might need to adjust the balance a tiny bit," she commented. "I'm still having trouble on non smooth surfaces." She watched as they carefully slid away a section of her skin. "Those seams aren't too noticeable, are they?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not as long as you're not running around naked," the technician replied. "I hear they're still working on making it less noticeable."

"I hope so," she replied. "I want to look as real as possible."

"Well, we're working on those extra enhancements," he reminded her.

"I know," she replied. "Well, if you don't need me right now, I'm going to run a quick diagnostics on myself."

"That's fine," the tech replied.

She quickly ran through her systems. It was a bit odd keeping so much of her attention focused on the Sayomi body, and she was still trying to balance the two out. If she was going to keep both acting normally at the same time, she really needed to practice.

"Subspace communications are still out," she remarked out loud. "All I'm getting is static."

Another technician looked at her with a frown. "I wish we could figure out what's wrong with it." It was a problem they had been trying to figure out during their regular hours without success.

"I still don't think that there's anything wrong with my receivers," she insisted. "Something's just causing a lot of interference. It's been getting worse for months now."

"It's must be those oni installations," the technician agreed. "That's the only explanation we've been able to come up with. You said it started way back in early June, right?"

"Yes," she replied as she shut the receiver off. "And I haven't gotten any messages in a month now. We should have responded back before it went down."

"It was decided that it was too much of a risk," the technician reminded her. "Shutaro's father himself forbade it."

"I know," she replied. "I just hope that wasn't a mistake." She turned her attention back to the technicians working on Sayomi. "I'm working on a new program for her," she revealed shyly. "Once we get those new enhancements in place, they'll activate involuntarily based on my emotions."

"Why would you want to do that?" the first technician asked incredulously. "Wouldn't you want to be able to control everything?"

"I want her to be more human," Shu-chan replied. "If I'm sad, I want her to cry, and if I'm embarrassed, I want her to blush."

"A lot of people would love to be able to control things like that," he responded.

"Not me," she replied. "I've already got a million little processes that I'm micromanaging. It's so wonderful that I can have things that I can't fully understand or control."

"If you say so," he replied dubiously.

She sighed. "I wish I could just abandon this tin can and move into her. She's so much prettier than I am."

"Do you think that's even possible?" the technician asked.

"I'd need a lot of help," she replied. "And it'd require me to power down while the components were transferred, but it's certainly something I could do. I'm just way to scared to try it. I'm still operating off my original hard drive and predecessors, but I could use the ones I scavenged from that relay just the same. I'd actually think a lot faster without having to relay back and forth from this old equipment." She paused. "I use them as an auxiliary now, but the core of what is me is still on the stuff you guys designed. I'm terrified that something won't transfer right, and I'll lose what makes me me."

"Well, you know we'd help you, but you'd have to let the chief know about Sayomi," the technician reminded her. "And then Mendou-sama would probably find out about it pretty quick."

"I know," she replied. "It's just a nice dream for now."


	20. Upon Shaky Ground

"So, what's this I hear about you having a cute little girlfriend?" Shinobu asked teasingly. "It's all over town, you know."

"I am currently dating someone," Shutaro confirmed. He looked quizzically across the table at her. "What are people saying?"

Shinobu shrugged and took another bite before responding. "Just that you've been sighted all over town with her." She abruptly shot him a glare. "How come you haven't said anything to me about her?"

"We're just getting serious," Shutaro protested. "And besides, I don't see you much these days." He leaned back in his seat. "Isn't this the first time we've had lunch together in forever?"

"Well, yes," Shinobu admitted. "But you could have called me, you know." She frowned and leaned in close. "Just how serious are you two?" she asked with a knowing look.

Shutaro shook his head. "We're not doing anything inappropriate," he replied irritably. "Just going on dates and such."

"You've at least kissed her though, right?" Shinobu asked slyly.

He blushed and looked at the table. "Not yet," he admitted quietly.

"I see," she continued to tease him. "So, do you think she's the one?"

"I've only known her for about a month," he protested. "But yes, I've got a feeling that she might be," he admitted in a low voice.

"Well, I'm happy for you," she told him sincerely. "You've been way too much of a shut-in ever since you broke up with Asuka. If this girl can get you out of that mansion, then she's gotta be something special."

"She is," Shutaro agreed. "I've never met anyone quite like her."

"So, spill it," Shinobu commanded. "I want to know everything. Who is she? What does she like to do?"

He chuckled. "Her name is Aoki Sayomi, and she goes to school with Ryoko,"

"Oh?" Shinobu replied with mock surprise. "You're dating a high school student?"

"She's only a year younger than us," he protested, looking embarrassed.

She giggled. "I'm just teasing you," she said. "Keep going."

"Well, she just moved here from Kyoto this summer," he continued. "And she's wanting to attend here after she graduates."

"Is she smart?" Shinobu asked.

"I'd say so," he replied. "We've studied together a couple of times, but she just goes through her homework like it's nothing." He thought for a moment. "As for what she likes to do, that's hard to narrow down."

"You're such a typical guy," Shinobu commented. "You've been together over a month and you still don't know what her interests are."

His brow furrowed. "It's not like that," he protested. "I just haven't really found anything she doesn't like to do. I know she likes movies a lot, and she loves going on walks." He thought for a moment. "She doesn't seem to like swimming, but other than that she's been pretty well up for anything."

"Sounds like a fun girl," Shinobu said, glancing at her watch. "Well, I've got to be getting back. My last class starts soon."

"I'll see you later then," Shutaro replied. "I'm going to head home after this."

"Bye!" she called back wistfully as she rushed off. It seemed like they never got to talk for long anymore. She could only hope now that Shutaro was seeing someone he would start being more sociable again.

* * *

Shutaro finished his lunch slowly, keeping an eye on the clock on the wall. Sayomi wouldn't be out of school for another hour, and he intended to walk her home. He hoped she wouldn't mind that he hadn't said he was coming this time, but she always seemed happy to see him.

He was just leaving the university's cafeteria when the first tremor occurred. He barely felt the ground shake for a few seconds, and then it was over. No big deal, minor earthquakes were a fairly common occurrence. It wasn't until he was leaving the train station near the school and the third tremor hit that he started getting worried. This one was much harder than the previous two, though still not enough to cause any damage.

Jogging the rest of the way, he found that the students were already starting to mill out the doors. No doubt classes had been let out early just in case. Leaning against the gate, he scanned the mass of girls, hoping to catch sight of both Sayomi and his sister.

Soon he saw Ryoko coming out with a cluster of her friends. To his dismay Sayomi wasn't with them. He raised his hand hesitantly, hoping Ryoko would notice.

Ryoko's smile quickly turned to a frown when she caught sight of him. "I've got to go," she told her friends apologetically. Breaking free of the crowd, she quickly made her way over to Shutaro.

"Hi, big brother," she greeted him warmly. "What are you doing here? Did you get worried about me?" She patted him affectionately on the shoulder. "It was just a couple of little tremors."

"I was actually already on my way here," he explained hesitantly. "I was planning to walk Sayomi-san home." He kept his eyes on the door as the crowd of students thinned out to a trickle. "Have you seen her today?"

"No, I haven't seen her," Ryoko replied truthfully. "Did you let her know that you were coming today?"

"No, I wanted to surprise her," he admitted. "I hope she's not sick."

"She's probably fine," she assured him. "She seemed ok yesterday."

"Maybe I ought to go check on her," he replied.

"You should call first," Ryoko told him quickly. "Just stopping by would be kind of rude, don't you think?"

"I guess so," he agreed dubiously. "Those tremors just have me a little worried."

"Well, why don't you walk me home," she told him firmly. "And then you can give her a call."

"Or I can just call her now," Shutaro replied, reaching in his pocket for his phone. Quickly dialing Sayomi's number, he waited patiently as it rang several times.

"Hello?" she finally answered.

"Hey Sayomi-san," Shutaro greeted her. "I was just making sure that you're ok."

"Yes, I'm fine. Did something happen?" she asked curiously.

"Not really," he replied. "I was just worried that you weren't at school today."

Sayomi was silent for a moment. She shouldn't have answered his call so early in the day; she was supposed to still be in class. "Yeah, I stayed home today," she admitted. "My head was hurting this morning and I didn't figure missing one day would hurt."

"Do you think that you're getting sick?" he asked worriedly.

"No, I don't think so," she assured him. "I feel fine now."

"That's good," he replied. "You felt those tremors a little while ago, didn't you?"

"Yes," she answered quickly. "I don't think they were too serious though."

"Well, just make sure you're careful," he told her. "There's no telling if that was the worst of it."

"I will," she promised.

"I could come over there after I walk Ryoko home," he told her. "If you want me to."

"Actually, I'm still a bit sleepy," she told him hurriedly. "Tomorrow would be much better for me."

"Well, ok," he replied. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Sorry about that," she replied, trying to sound tired. "Bye, Shutaro-san,"

"She blew you off?" Ryoko surmised as he hung up.

Shutaro shot her an irritated look. "She just said she was feeling tired," he explained haughtily as he put the phone away. "Come on, let's go on home."

* * *

Shu-chan closed the connection regretfully. If he was walking Ryoko home that meant he had probably wanted to walk her home as well. Up until now she had just been showing up when they had something planned; she hadn't considered that he might show up unexpected. And now on top of disappointing him she was probably making him worried about her as well.

She sighed. Today was just turning out to be all kinds of fun. There had been five or six tremors already, though only the last three had been noticeable without instruments. On top of that her subspace receiver was totally fried. She'd tested it out a few hours ago at the request of the technicians, only to have the thing sputter out and die completely.

She'd been trying to fix it for hours now, but her repair arms weren't designed to work in so much gravity. She kept worrying that she was going to break one of her fragile manipulators. And the occasional quakes weren't making the delicate work any easier.

She was just about to start work on it again when the ground deep beneath Tomobiki buckled hard, sending massive shockwaves towards the surface. With her sensitive sensors she was the first one in the lab to realize that anything was wrong.

"A big one's about to hit," she yelled out over the radio less than a half second before the building started shaking.

The technicians glanced around wildly as the shaking steadily increased in magnitude. Shu-chan just tucked her repair arms in tight, hoping that nothing would get broken. It was of some relief that Sayomi was safely tucked away in Ryoko's guest room.

The R&D facility, like most large buildings in the country, was built to withstand severe earthquakes. The same couldn't be said of the structure that had been hastily constructed to support Shu-chan when she had first arrived. At the height of the tremors she felt herself start tilting forward.

With a loud screech one of the four metallic supports underneath her sheered clean off, sending her crashing to the floor. She hit the concrete hard, instantly shattering every one of her delicate mirrors and lenses, and driving her hull sharply inwards towards her internal components.

As soon as the shaking subsided, many of the distraught technicians swarmed around the satellite, trying to assess the damage. No one had been allowed to work on her since she had arrived, so they had really no idea how badly she was damaged. However the fact that the radio was ominously silent was not a good sign.

* * *

Shutaro stood up slowly, making sure to steady his frightened sister. They had almost made it to the front gate when the quake had begun, and he had quickly decided it was best just to stay out in the open until things calmed down.

It was only a couple of minutes after the shaking stopped that his phone started ringing. The first couple of calls were his father and mother checking on him. They were relieved to hear that Ryoko was there, and that they were both ok.

The next call sent chills down his spine. It was his projects' supervisor, calling to let him know what had happened to Shu-chan. She appeared to be in pretty bad shape, and they still weren't getting any response from her.

"I'll be down there as soon as I can," Shutaro promised. Hanging up, he started dialing another number as he headed into the estate.

"Who are you calling now?" Ryoko asked as she jogged to keep up with him.

"Sayomi-san," he replied tersely. "I'm just making sure that she's ok."

Ryoko looked away guiltily. If Shu-chan was badly damaged, it was likely that Sayomi wouldn't be around for a while.

"No one's answering," he spat out as he slowed down. "I should go over there first."

"She probably just went outside when the earthquake hit," Ryoko tried to assure him. "I'll tell you what. You go check on Shu-chan, and I'll go check on Sayomi-sempai myself."

"I don't want you out there by yourself," he protested. "We don't know if there'll be any aftershocks yet."

She pointed towards the small group of black clad men swiftly approaching them. "I'll be fine with my Kuroko," she told him firmly. "You know how much Shu-chan likes you. If she's hurt you really need to go be with her."

He stared at the ground for a moment, torn on what to do. "Ok," he finally agreed. "But make sure you call me when you get there."

"Sure, sure," Ryoko promised, waving goodbye as she headed for her worried Kuroko. Hopefully things weren't too bad in the lab, but there was no way she could let Shutaro go looking for Sayomi when she was already safely on the estate.

* * *

Shutaro shook his head as he surveyed the wreck that had been his friend. She was in a sorry state, with broken glass scattered all around her bent frame. At the very least she had to be blind now.

"Shu-chan, are you there?" he asked tentatively into the radio, but there was no answer. "Please respond, Shu-chan. This is Shutaro, please answer me." The radio remained silent.

"Do you think her antennae are just damaged?" he asked the supervisor

"At this close range, it wouldn't matter," the tech explained worriedly. "We won't know exactly what's been damaged until we open her up." He looked at the ground. "Do we have authorization to attempt repairs?"

"Of course," Shutaro replied irritably. "You should have been doing that as soon as possible."

"We've been getting everything ready while you arrived," the supervisor replied. "But we'll start work immediately."

* * *

Ryoko was just climbing the stairs to her room when she heard a loud thump on the floor above her. She rushed the rest of the way up and to her dismay found Sayomi sprawled out in the hallway.

"Sayomi-chan!" she cried out, trying fruitlessly to lift the heavy girl back up.

Sayomi slowly turned her head to look at Ryoko. Her eyes appeared unfocused, but she still managed to recognize her friend.

"Ry-o-ko," she slurred. "Need to get to lab now."

"Shutaro's already down there," Ryoko protested. "He'll figure everything out if he sees you like this."

"Doesn't matter anymore," Sayomi replied, her voice slowly returning to normal. "That fall caused extensive damage to a lot of things, including my main processor," she explained, carefully sounding out each syllable. I'm barely managing to reroute to an auxiliary, but there's no way they'll be able to fix it without help."

"Are you sure about that?" Ryoko asked dubiously, unwilling to end their careful charade after all the success that they'd had.

"Yes," Sayomi replied. "I'm the only one who understands my modifications."

"Well, can't you just tell them what to do over that radio?" Ryoko asked hopefully.

"I need these optics," Sayomi explained. "The security cameras don't have good enough resolution for me to see."

"Fine," Ryoko surrendered. "I'll have my Kuroko get you down there. But I'm going to try to get Shutaro out of there first."

"Thank you," Sayomi replied weakly. "It's taking all of my power just to keep this channel open."

* * *

"I can't find her anywhere," Ryoko cried hopelessly. "Big brother, can you come down here and help me look?"

Shutaro bit his lip and stared at Shu-chan. There really wasn't anything he could do here, but maybe he could be of some help out there. "Ok," he simply replied before hanging up.

"Shu-chan," he spoke softly into the radio, "I can only hope that you can hear this. My friend Sayomi-san is missing, and I really need to go look for her. I hate to leave you at a time like this, but you're in the best hands in the world." He turned away. "I'm sorry, Shu-chan. I'll be back as soon as I can. Please just hold on."

"Thank you, Shutaro-kun," Shu-chan's voice came faintly over the radio. "It means a lot to me to know that you care."

"Shu-chan?" he replied eagerly, clutching the radio tightly in his hands. "Are you there?"

"Go," she told him firmly. "Please, just go, I'll be ok."

He looked up at the now hopeful technicians' faces. "Please take good care of her," he pleaded. "I'll be back soon," he said, heading for the door. "Don't let anything happen to her!"

Shutaro had barely left the room when a loud banging sounded on one of the rear exterior doors. One of the technicians promptly opened the door to find four Kuroko carrying a covered stretcher between them. They rushed in, followed closely by Ryoko.

"I'm sorry, Ryoko-sama, but you aren't allowed in here," the project supervisor protested, moving to block their way. "Besides, we're having a bit of an emergency here."

"I know," Ryoko replied curtly. She saw a couple of technicians behind him starting to pry off one of Shu-chan's outer panels. "You shouldn't do that," she yelled. "You might damage something."

"Trust me," their supervisor tried to assure her, "We know what we're doing."

"Tell them to stop," Shu-chan ordered.

The supervisor's head whipped around, but the voice hadn't come from the radio. He looked curiously at the bundle that the Kuroko were carrying. The covering slowly slid away as a young girl sat up straight. "I'll direct you on exactly what to do," she told him firmly.

"Who is this girl?" the supervisor demanded. "And why does she sound exactly like Shu-chan."

"Um, boss," one of the junior technicians spoke up. "That is Shu-chan. Sort of." He stepped up and inspected her closely. "Anyways, we should do what she says," he told his superior firmly. "She knows what she's talking about."

"Will someone explain what's going on?" the supervisor asked irritably.

"Well, it all started a couple of months ago," Ryoko began hurriedly.

* * *

"How does it look?" one of the technicians asked worriedly.

Sayomi turned to him. "Not good," she replied weakly. "I'm not going to be able to salvage the original processor. And my hard drive's starting to skip really bad, I don't think it's going to last much longer." She paused. "I'm going to need some help in a moment."

She pointed towards one of the tiger striped boxes attached to her hull. "I'm in the middle of copying everything to a storage unit I salvaged from that relay station," she explained slowly. "I was already using it to hold my day to day memories, but this is the first time I've moved any of my essential programs over to it. I don't know if it's going to work yet." She fell silent, the strain of keeping her failing systems active while converting everything to the new storage format taking most of her concentration.

As soon as the data was copied, she ran a check to make sure there wasn't any data loss. There was some corruption, but it was mostly just observational data from her time in orbit. Nothing important seemed to be missing.

"Ok, listen up," she ordered loudly, speaking over the nearby printer spitting out page after page of diagrams and instructions. "I need you to follow those instructions to the letter. I won't be able to guide you myself, but I know you can do it."

The technician returned with a handful of her instructions. "Is this really necessary?" he asked tentatively. "If we can just reroute everything to those new components, there's no reason to move them.

"My optics are destroyed, my instruments are mostly dead, and this hunk of metal is more of a coffin than anything now," she growled. "Please follow my instructions. I've been thinking about this for this for a long time now; I was just too scared to go ahead with it. But now either way I'm going to have to risk not coming back up. Please just go ahead and do it."

"Ok, Sayomi-chan," the technician promised.

She smiled, knowing she could trust him. He was one of the few who had been secretly working nights to keep her going. "I'm taking myself offline now," she told him quietly. "Everything should be ready, just be careful and take your time." She weakly reached up and took his hand. "I have confidence in you," she told the nervous man. "But if this doesn't work, please do me a favor."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Make sure Shutaro-kun gets the page I just printed," she said. "That's all I ask."

Her voice faded away as what remained of the satellite slowly powered down. Her last thought was of Shutaro's smiling face. Even if this was the end, it had all been worth it just to see that smile directed at her.

* * *

Shutaro sank down heavily against a cracked wall, his face a mask of weariness. He was a far cry from his usual tidy appearance. His white clothes were ripped and stained from digging through piles of rubble, and his hands were filthy and scratched up as well.

"Don't give up," Ryoko told him confidently. "We'll find her."

He didn't reply. They'd been steadily searching a larger and larger radius around her house, but still they'd found nothing. No one had been there when they checked the house, but he knew that she'd been there just a few minutes before the quake.

"Her house wasn't damaged badly," Ryoko reminded him. "She had to have been alright."

"Then where is she?" he asked miserably.

"I don't know," she replied wearily. She wondered what was going on back at the lab. They hadn't had any word, and it was starting to drive her nuts. All the reassuring in the world wouldn't help if Shu-chan couldn't be repaired.

"I shouldn't be wasting time here," he sighed, staggering painfully back to his feet.

"You should rest, big brother," Ryoko protested, trying to shove him back down. "Between us we've got over a hundred men combing this area. If she's still around here, they'll find her." She peered unsuccessfully into the darkness beyond the light of the nearby street lamp.

"I've got to keep looking," he insisted, shrugging her hands away. He staggered slowly away into the darkness, his head hanging low from fatigue.

She considered stopping him, telling him the truth. He was rapidly wearing himself down out here. But if Shu-chan didn't make it, Ryoko doubted he would ever forgive her for the deception. What little time he could have been spending with his friend would have been wasted in a wild goose chase.

* * *

He had only gone about half a block when he spied a pale figure walking quickly in his direction. He forced himself to repress a faint glimmer of hope. He'd already had his hopes dashed too many times tonight. Even when the figure started running towards him he tried not to get his expectations up.

"Shutaro-san!" a soft voice called out to him.

He swallowed heavily, that voice well known to him. "Sayomi-san," he cried out, stumbling towards her."

"Oh, Shutaro-san," she sobbed, running into his embrace. "I was so scared."

"Shhh," he hushed her, pressing her close. "Where on earth have you been?"

"I tried to find you, but I got really lost," she explained tearfully. "I've been trying and trying to find my way back ever since."

He hugged her close until her shaking died down. "You almost made it back," he finally told her. "We're only a couple of blocks over from your house."

"Really?" she asked, trying to dry her tears. "That's a relief." She regretfully broke away from him. "Why are you so dirty?" she asked worriedly. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I'm fine," he replied bashfully. "Come on, Ryoko's right down the street. She'll be happy to see that you're ok too."

"I'm really lucky to have friends like you two," she murmured as she snuggled closely to his side. On a whim she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you for looking for me," she told him earnestly. "You don't know how much that means to me."

He blushed bright red. "It was really nothing," he protested, leading her back down the street.

Ryoko's eyes widened as she saw Sayomi pressed tightly up against her brother's side. "You're ok?" she asked excitedly.

"Thanks to you two," Sayomi replied happily.

"That's a relief," Ryoko responded.

"There wasn't anyone home when we went by your house," Shutaro told Sayomi worriedly.

"My father's off on a business trip," she explained embarrassedly. "If he'd been home I probably wouldn't have went blindly running off like that."

Ryoko had to keep herself from giggling. Sayomi's "father" was one of the many Kuroko currently pretending to scour the area for her.

"Would you like to come stay at our estate tonight?" Shutaro asked her tentatively.

"Big brother!" Ryoko exclaimed, surprised by his forwardness.

"She can sleep up there with you," Shutaro protested. "I just hate to think that she'll be going to an empty house after all this."

"That'd be really nice," Sayomi replied. "Is that ok, Ryoko-chan?"

"That's fine with me," Ryoko replied, hiding a smile. If only her brother knew that Sayomi already spent almost every night up there.

* * *

As soon as they reached the front gate, Shutaro excused himself. "I need to go take care of something," he told them, bowing apologetically. "I'll be back at the house in a little while."

The two girls, escorted by a large number of weary Kuroko, shared a look as he jogged off into the dark.

"He's going to check on Shu-chan," Ryoko spoke up, watching him disappear into the night.

"I know," Sayomi replied quietly. "He always keeps his promises."

"I'm guessing the damage wasn't too bad, since you're standing here," Ryoko mused.

"Actually, it was much worse than I thought," Sayomi replied. "What was Shu-chan is mostly just a pile of junk now."

"I don't understand," Ryoko replied with a distressed look.

Sayomi tapped a finger on the side of her head. "Everything that I am is in here now."

"So you aren't remote controlling this body anymore?" Ryoko guessed.

"That is correct," Sayomi told her.

"But you're still you, right?" Ryoko asked hesitantly. "You didn't lose anything, did you?"

Sayomi made a slight adjustment. "Nope," she said cheerfully in Shu-chan's more childish voice. "I'm still me." She quickly switched back to her more mature sounding voice. "The old Shu-chan's still going to serve a purpose though," she explained. "As soon as the transmitters are repaired, I'll be accessing them remotely from this body. And I'll still be able to talk to Shutaro as Shu-chan through it. With any luck he'll never notice that I'm not really in there anymore."


	21. The Final Stretch

The first thing Lum did that morning was lumber carefully into the bathroom to inspect her head. She ran her fingers over her scalp carefully, but not even the tiniest protrusions marred the surface.

Ataru woke up soon after she left. "Lum?" he called out softly, surprised that she was already out of bed. "Where are you?"

She entered the bedroom slowly, her eyebrows furrowed irritably.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" he asked cautiously.

"They still aren't growing," Lum growled. "Not at all."

"Your horns?" he surmised. "Well, you just stopped using that stuff the day before yesterday," he reminded her. "Maybe it just takes a while to wear off."

"I don't know," she replied grouchily. "Maybe they won't ever grow back."

"Don't say that," he protested. "The doctor said there was a good chance they'll grow back."

She glared at him. "That means there's a good chance they won't too," she retorted as she left the room.

Ataru scratched his neck sheepishly as he swung his legs out over the side of the bed. It seemed like Lum's temper was getting worse every day now. Still, he couldn't really blame her. Over the last couple of months her belly had really swelled up, and her back was giving her constant problems. Adding onto that were her worries about never being able to fly or safely venture out among other oni again.

Today seemed like it was going to be an especially bad day.

"What do you want for breakfast?" she demanded as soon as he came out of the bedroom.

"Don't worry about it," he told her gently. "You just sit down and get some rest, and I'll make breakfast."

"I'm perfectly capable of making breakfast myself," she grumbled, heading for the kitchen.

"I didn't say you weren't," he replied calmly as he followed her.

The kitchen door slammed shut in his face, nearly smashing him in the nose.

"Watch it," he growled, finally getting annoyed.

There was no reply from within. Grumbling he retreated to the couch and switched on the local news. As usual the top story was the galaxy wide communication issues that had been cropping up lately. No one much seemed to believe Invader's assertion that it was related to Uru's plan. Ataru wondered grumpily what it would take for the other planets to care about his home planet. Just because there hadn't been any overt invasions by the Uruseins didn't mean they weren't already on Earth causing trouble.

After a few minutes he angrily switched off the screen. Hearing bad news wasn't going to help raise his spirits any. Business had been terrible lately, and working out in the cold wasn't exactly pleasant. Being cooped up inside wasn't exactly fun either with Lum like this.

A sound of a plate being slammed down hard rang out behind him. Ataru rolled his eyes, trying hard not to lose his own temper.

"Breakfast's ready," Lum muttered grumpily. "I'm going back to bed."

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" he asked.

"I'm not hungry," she growled.

"You should still try to eat," he insisted. "It's not good to just lay around all day."

She huffed and kept going, slamming the bedroom door behind her as she went.

Ataru sighed heavily and went over to the table. He eyed his hastily made breakfast warily, wondering exactly how mad Lum was at him. He didn't think that she would mess with his food. Even though she hadn't been using spices for months, she still had an impressive arsenal of them in the kitchen.

He took a bite, relieved that it tasted normal. A wave of guilt washed over him for even suspecting her. Lum might be in a foul mood, but she wouldn't intentionally hurt him. He hoped. His eyes roamed down to the faint impressions of her teeth still adorning his lower arm. Well, she probably wouldn't mess with his food, at least.

* * *

Invader glared at the blank viewscreen. "Why is everyone such idiots?" he demanded loudly. "There's scattered subspace communication outages across the galaxy, we know for a fact that Urusei was sniffing around Earth again, and yet not a single damn person wants to lift a finger to help."

Lt. Commander Jirettai shook his head. "There's no use losing your head over it, boss," he said quietly. "The Galactic Trade Alliance did send out a survey ship, and they didn't find any signs that the Uruseins were on Earth. And they just flat out don't want to listen to us. "

"You know as well as I do that Uru could be camouflaging themselves from orbital scanners," Invader growled. "What we need is for someone to actually land and check it out visually. Or at least try to contact the Earthlings. There's no sign that any such attempts were made."

"No one wants to start a war without more solid evidence," Jirettai reminded him. "Uru's already claimed Earth as their territory and threatened to attack if anyone else attempts a landing." He paused for a moment. "And when they're keeping several heavy battleships in the area, no one wants to risk it."

Invader grumbled something unintelligible. "Why are we even trying?" he finally asked. "Even what little support they said they'd give us hasn't been delivered on. We have such a bad reputation out there that no one's ever going to trust us."

"I know," Jirettai sighed. "It does seem rather hopeless."

* * *

Ataru opened the door as quietly as he could. As grumpy as Lum had been earlier, he half hoped that she was still asleep. The sight of a head of green hair barely peeking over the top of the couch told him that wasn't the case.

"Shut the door, already," she grouched. "You're letting all the heat out."

He heaved his toolbox inside and shut the hatch as quickly as he could. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he quickly put his gloves and jacket away.

She peeked sleepily out at him from under her heavy tiger striped blanket. "My back hurts," she said irritably. "And I've had a headache ever since I woke up."

"I'm sorry," he told her, leaning over the back of the couch to plant a kiss on her cheek.

She managed a slight smile before her face fell again. "I'm sorry about this morning, Darling," she told him quietly. "I don't know why I'm always such a bitch lately."

"It's ok," he told her as he stepped into the bathroom to wash his hands. "I can only imagine how hard all this is on you."

"That's no reason to take it out on you," she said. "I'm really sorry."

It's fine," he insisted, heavily plopping down on the couch beside her. "Have you eaten anything yet?"

"Yeah, I got hungry earlier while you were outside," she admitted.

"That's good," he replied wearily. "Let me rest a little bit, and I'll make us something for dinner."

She scooted closer and carefully spread her blanket out over him as well. "You've got to be freezing," she gently scolded, feeling him slightly shivering. "You should wear more layers when you go out there."

"It is cold out," he agreed, snuggling close to his toasty wife. "But you know how it is. You put on too much and you can't hardly get anything done."

"I know," she replied. "But still, you don't want to get sick." She sighed and gazed out the slightly frost glazed window. "This is the worst winter I can remember."

"Yeah, it wasn't nearly this bad last year," he agreed. Leaning back, he thought about all the time that had passed since they had come to this planet. "Our wedding anniversary's going to be here in no time," he mused.

"I know," she replied. "It's really hard to believe how fast time goes by."

"Just wait until our kid's here," Ataru remarked. "My mom told me that once you have a baby, it seems like no time before they're all grown up."

"That's weird. She once told me that it seemed like forever before she'd get you out of the house," Lum replied thoughtfully.

Ataru frowned. "That sounds like something she'd say," he grumped.

Lum giggled. "I'm sure she was kidding."

"Not like you weren't there freeloading as well," he reminded his wife. "And how many times did you destroy the roof?"

"Not that many times," she replied good-humouredly.

"Anyways, it won't be much longer," Ataru continued. "About two or three more weeks and we'll have our hands full."

"I know," Lum said. "It's kind of scary." She gave him a sad smile. "In a way these last few months seemed like they lasted forever. It isn't fun always having to worry about the littlest things and trying to prepare for the worst."

"Well, we're practically out of the woods now," he replied, trying to cheer her up.

"I know," she agreed. "If my horns would just grow back then we'd be fine."

Ataru nodded. A few days ago their doctor had explained that by this point Lum's body wouldn't be trying to reject the baby anymore, and that it was important that she try to let her horns grow back as soon as possible. She was going to need the boost to her immune system that they would give her.

He snaked his arm behind her back and shut his eyes. It really was nice to not have to worry quite so much now. Money might be tight, but they had friends and family to rely on if it came down to it.

"Darling, why are you so nice to me?" Lum asked softly.

"What do you mean?" he asked sleepily.

"No matter how grumpy I am, you never lose your temper," she explained. "It's totally different than how we were a couple of years ago."

"I don't know," he replied, still not bothering to open his eyes. "I'm cutting you a lot of slack right now because you're not feeling well."

"I'm not a very good wife, am I?" she asked sadly.

"You're a great wife," he murmured. "I wouldn't have anyone but you."

Lum stared at him for a moment. "You're really worn out, aren't you, Darling?"

"I'll be ok in a few minutes," he promised softly. "You're really warm, you know that?"

"At least I'm of some use to you," she muttered.

Ataru, rapidly falling asleep, didn't reply.

"You're so cute when you're asleep," Lum whispered. "I've laid awake so many nights just to watch you." She gently caressed her swollen belly with her free hand. "You're really lucky to have such a good father," she murmured lovingly. She smiled and carefully rested her head against Darling's. She wasn't really sleepy, but she wasn't about to disturb him.

* * *

Ataru awoke with a start. "What time is it?" he asked groggily as he looked around the dark room. The only reply he got was Lum's slow rhythmic breathing. Obviously she had fallen asleep as well.

His stomach grumbled a clear sign that it must be well past dinnertime by now. Knowing that Lum needed to eat too, he gently extracted himself from her embrace and let her down slowly onto the couch. There was no reason to wake her up until he was done cooking.

She scrunched up her face and murmured something in her sleep that he couldn't understand. Smiling, Ataru gently stroked her head; it was something that he knew from experience usually soothed her. A small hard bump met his hand, and his eyes widened in surprise. Switching on the light, he carefully parted her hair. Two tiny yellow horns were barely peeking out of her scalp.

The sight of those long missing horns more than made up for the terrible day he'd been having. Lum would surely be ecstatic at the news when she woke up. He switched the light back off and scurried into the kitchen, eager to get dinner ready and let her know the good news.

* * *

"The instances of ships failing to arrive at their destinations have continued to mount in the last few hours," the reporter stated grimly. "There has still been no official word on what exactly has happened to them, but there is much speculation that the ships are simply failing to return from subspace." He paused and looked dramatically into the camera. "Several systems have already announced a ban on interstellar travel until more information can be gathered on these mysterious disappearances."

Invader slammed his fist down on the switch, cutting the screen off. "Well, it looks like it's over. Everyone just sat around and sat around, and now we're all screwed."

"It certainly looks that way," Jirettai replied quietly. "Whatever they've done, it's affecting ships from every single star system."

"Well, all we can do now is continue fortifying our own defenses," Invader replied, his face heavy with despair. "Our only hope is the Earthlings, and we can't even talk to them anymore."

"Well, we tried our best with what we had," Jirettai reminded his superior. "And if we'd went ourselves and somehow managed to win, you know we wouldn't have had a home to return to."

"I know," Invader growled. "But if everyone had contributed just a few ships like I requested, we could have done it without leaving anyone defenseless."

Jirettai nodded. Invader's plan had been solid, but they just hadn't been able to convince enough people of that. Their long reputation as cunning planet conquerors was not so easy to overcome.

"I'm going to get on the phone again," Invader abruptly announced. "Those idiots wouldn't listen before, but maybe they will now."

"What good will that do now?" Jirettai inquired hesitantly.

"None," Invader grimly admitted, "but just in case the situation changes, we need to be ready."

* * *

"Lum, dinner's ready," Ataru called out cheerfully.

She raised her head slowly from the couch, squinting at the bright light in the room.

"How long have I been asleep?" she demanded as she strained to stand up. To her surprise it wasn't nearly as hard as expected.

Ataru shrugged. "It's after nine," he told her. "Sorry that dinner's so late, but I didn't wake up until a little bit ago."

"That's my fault," she admitted. "I was going to wake you up earlier, but I just couldn't stay awake myself."

He chuckled as he helped her into a seat at the table. "I guess we're both just lazy."

"Just me," Lum replied. "I've slept most of the day while you've been out there working."

"Well, I guess all that sleep was good for you," he told her cheerfully. "Feel the top of your head."

She cautiously ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "I feel them!"

"I thought that'd make your day," he remarked. "I wonder how long they'll take to grow all the way out."

"Shouldn't be more than a day or two," Lum replied, still happily rubbing her budding horns. "This is great."

"Well, go ahead and eat before your food gets cold," he said starting in on his own dinner.

"Yes, Darling," she replied obediently, giving him a warm smile.

* * *

"They're looking great," Dr. Hakushi announced as she carefully inspected Lum's new horns. "I must admit, I was quite concerned that they wouldn't grow back after so long."

"I was too," Lum agreed.

"How is your flying?" the doctor inquired, taking careful notes as she spoke.

Lum shrugged. "About as well as you can expect, considering how heavy I am."

"You are taking it easy, aren't you?" the doctor asked worriedly. "You have a lot more momentum now."

"Yes," Lum replied. "I'm just barely hovering."

"She's being really careful," Ataru confirmed. "I've been keeping an eye on her."

Lum stuck her tongue out at him behind the doctor's back.

"Is something funny?" the doctor asked distractedly, hearing Lum giggle.

Ataru's expression transformed from silly to serious the instant the doctor turned around. He shrugged innocently as her gaze fell on him.

Dr. Hakushi shook her head as she turned her attention back to her notes. These two really were still just children. But maybe that was why they seemed to handle everything so well.

"Well," she finally continued, "Everything still looks ok." She gave Lum a stern look. "I'd say that you'll probably go into labor within the next couple of weeks. Just make sure that you call me as soon as you start having contractions."

"I will," Lum promised. "It's really only a couple more weeks?"

"Could be a bit longer, but as big as you are, I doubt it," the doctor assured her as she ushered the two out the door.

* * *

"_Well, how did it go_?" Mrs. Invader asked expectantly as they emerged into the waiting room.

"Everything's fine," Lum announced happily.

"_That's good_," her mother replied, flying steadily alongside the two as they made their way towards the front door. "_Did she tell you how long you've got left_?"

"About two weeks," Lum replied.

"_That's what I figured_," her mother admitted. "_I didn't want to say anything for sure though_."

"I'm just so relieved that this is almost over," Lum replied, sounding weary.

"_Just wait until you have a little oni flying around causing trouble_," her mother teased. "_You'll miss these quiet days. Trust me_."

"Was I really that much trouble?" Lum asked.

"When you were little, you used to drive me nuts," her mother replied. "And you just got worse the older you got."

"Oh, I did not!" Lum exclaimed, trying not to laugh.

Ataru stayed quiet, getting the gist of their conversation from Lum's replies.

"How's dad doing?" Lum asked after a few minutes.

"_He hasn't been home much_," Mrs. Invader replied sadly. "_I don't know what he expects to get done staying up in that ship every day_."

"Well, at least he's not just moping around," Lum commented.

"_I'm sure he'll be doing that soon enough,"_ her mother replied sadly. "_You should give him a call and let him know the good news though_."

"I will this evening," Lum promised.

Ataru glared irritably at his feet as they started talking about his father-in-law. The topic brought to mind all the trouble the Uruseins were undoubtedly causing. The news channels had been talking nonstop about all the missing ships, and Ataru figured his chances of ever seeing Earth again had to be pretty low. But he certainly couldn't blame Invader; the warlord had done his best to prevent this from happening.

Still, it was doing him no good to worry about it, especially at a time like this. He forced himself to stop scowling, not wanting to spread his soured mood to his wife. Not having all her weight on the ground was doing wonders for her back problems, and her mood had been much more upbeat as a result. But it was still frustrating that what should have been a happy time for them both was turning out so bittersweet.

Despite his efforts, Lum quickly noticed that he wasn't in a good mood anymore. She took his hand and squeezed it gently to get his attention.

"Darling, try not to worry so much," she told him firmly.

"I am," he replied, wishing she couldn't figure him out so easily. "It's just hard not to."

"I know," she replied, giving his hand another squeeze. "I'm worried too, but you've just got to hope for the best at times like this."

Ataru nodded. "Thanks, Lum," he replied quietly. Shaking his head as if to clear out the bad thoughts, he suddenly smiled. "Man, only two more weeks," he remarked in a flippant tone. "I'm getting pretty nervous just thinking about it."

Lum smiled. Even when Darling was feeling down, he still tried so hard.


	22. Mendou's Last Straw

"Hello, Shutaro-kun," Shu-chan greeted him warmly. "How have you been?"

Shutaro smiled. "I'm doing fine. How are the repairs going?'

"A bit slow," she responded, "but at least I can see again."

"That's a good start," he replied cheerfully. Privately he was still somewhat surprised that the satellite was functioning at all. The entire side was still caved in, and there were thick tangles of wire visible though the gaps.

"My subspace transmitter still isn't working," she mentioned sadly. "I know that's why you're down here."

Shutaro shook his head. "I came to check on you, not on that," he replied firmly. Drawing up a chair, he rested his chin on one hand. "You really worried everyone, you know?"

"You look tired," she replied. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Not as much as I'd like," he admitted.

Sayomi peeked out from her hiding spot nearby with a frown. Poor Shutaro, he was really pushing himself lately. It was sweet that he had come down to visit her, but she'd rather that he just try to get some rest. He had promised her last night that he was going to try to sleep in today, but here he was.

She sighed and slumped back down behind the console. There was no way she was going to get any work done as long as he was hanging around. She certainly appreciated the extra attention, but enough was enough. Those transmitters weren't going to repair themselves.

Finally he wrapped up his visit and left the room. She checked the security cameras to make sure he was really leaving before hopping up to resume her repairs.

"That was a close one, wasn't it?" the project supervisor commented as she rejoined the small group working on the satellite.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Thanks for not ratting me out."

The technician shrugged. "How could I give up the chance to study something as amazing as this?" he asked. "Besides, we're all pretty fond of you."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"I have to admit, we'd have a time trying to figure all this out without your help," he remarked. "There's not a whole lot that you didn't modify."

"I know," she replied, carefully opening a panel on one of the tiger striped parts. "I just hope we can fix everything. I can only do so much with the transmitters in this body, and I really miss being able to multitask."

"It must be rough," he responded distractedly as he tried to figure out one of her diagrams.

"Sorry that you guys are here on your day off," she apologized guiltily.

"We're getting paid extra for it, so don't worry about it," one of the other technicians piped up. "Plus this stuff is way more interesting than sitting around at home."

"Well, thanks anyways," she insisted, turning her attention back to the task at hand. Now that her very existence wasn't at stake anymore, she had few qualms about letting the techs work on her main body, but anything alien in origin was still off limits. It would be extremely difficult at best to reproduce some of those chips, and she really didn't want to risk it.

She clicked her tongue idly as she inspected the subspace relay unit. It was certainly repairable, but she was going to have to substitute a few components with much bulkier earth ones. Luckily nothing crucial had burned out.

* * *

They had only been back at work for maybe a half hour when an alert signaled that she was getting a phone call. "Damn it, Shutaro-kun," she muttered softly. "You should be in bed by now."

"Hello, this is the Aoki household," she replied. The other technicians stared at her for a moment as she abruptly stopped moving. They knew that she was busy with something else, but it was still unnerving to see her go suddenly stiff and silent like that.

"Hey, Sayomi-san," Shutaro greeted her sleepily. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," she told him sternly. "I thought you were going to sleep in today."

"I tried to, but I just couldn't get to sleep," he replied. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"No, I was just studying," she replied.

"Do you want any company?" he asked tentatively.

"You're awfully forward today," she replied. "Wanting to come over to an innocent schoolgirl's house while she's home alone."

"I didn't mean it like that," he protested.

"I know," she giggled. "You're always a perfect gentleman with me."

"I would never think of taking advantage of a lady," he replied.

"I trust you," she replied warmly. "Still, I don't want the neighbors to get the wrong idea."

"Yeah, I could see how they would," he replied sadly.

"I'll tell you what," she suggested brightly. "If you'll give me about half an hour, I'll come over there and keep you company for a while."

"That would be nice," he agreed. "Thanks a lot, Sayomi-san."

"It's no problem," she replied. "I'll see you soon."

She disconnected the call and shook her head. No matter how much Shutaro-kun disturbed her work, it was hard to stay irritated at him. Ever since those earthquakes he'd been a bit of a nervous wreck. She didn't know if it was because of Shu-chan's accident or her own disappearance that night. Or it could be something else entirely.

"I'll have to get going in a little bit," she announced out loud. "I've got a date of sorts."

"Must be annoying trying to be two people," one of the technicians observed.

"Yeah," Sayomi agreed. When you had important work to do, it sure was.

* * *

"Young master, you have a visitor," one of his retainers informed him. "It's your friend, Aoki-san."

Shutaro yawned and slowly got to his feet. "Thanks," he replied, stumbling wearily down the hall.

Emerging into the front hall, he smiled as brightly as he could. Sayomi was waiting patiently for him, her textbooks and notes clasped tightly in her arms.

"Hi," she greeted him cheerfully.

"Hi," he replied sleepily. "Here, let me carry those."

"I've got them," she told him, waving his hands away. "You look like hell, Shutaro-san."

"Thanks?" he replied, looking more than slightly offended.

Hefting her books onto one arm, she slapped him on the shoulder. "Come on," she told him sternly. "You don't need to be on your feet."

"I'm alright," he protested, but she was already marching down the hall towards his personal suite.

"Come on," she prodded him.

Shrugging, he followed her brisk pace as best he could.

Once back inside, she put her books down on his desk with a thump. "How's your homework coming along?" she asked, eyeing his open notebook.

"Not great," he admitted. "I can't seem to concentrate on it."

"That's because you're worn out," she lightly scolded him. Grabbing his arm, she tugged him persistently over to the couch.

"Sit," she commanded him.

He did as he was told. "You're being awfully bossy today," he joked.

"I have to be," she replied more kindly. "You're too stubborn to listen otherwise."

"I am not stubborn," he denied.

"Yes, you are," she retorted, sitting down softly next to him. Grabbing his shoulder, she pulled him down until his head was resting on her lap.

As tired as he was, he didn't resist, though his cheeks were tinged red. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously, trying not to make sure his eyes didn't linger anywhere they shouldn't.

"Making sure you get some sleep," she told him. "And I'm not letting you up until you do."

"Don't you need to work on your homework?" he protested weakly.

"It can wait," she replied, running her fingers slowly through his silky hair.

She started softly hummed a song she liked while continuing to stroke his head. It was something she had learned from romantic movies, and sure enough it seemed to be working. Either that or he was finally just too tired to stay awake anymore. His eyes drooped and finally closed, his breathing steadying out into a slow rhythm.

She smiled tenderly at her sleeping boyfriend. This might not be getting the repair work done any faster, but moments like these were what she was working for in the first place.

* * *

Shutaro, I need to speak with you," his father announced as he entered the room. He did a double take as he found his son sound asleep on the lap of a cute girl.

She gave him a stern look and silently put a finger to her lips.

"I take it you're Aoki-san," the elder Mendou greeted her quietly. "I apologize that we haven't had the opportunity to meet before now."

She nodded. "My name's Aoki Sayomi," she replied softly. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," he replied. "Shutaro's told me a lot about you." He peered at his son for a moment. "Is he ok?"

"He's just exhausted," she explained. "Could you please let him sleep a little while longer?"

"Of course," Shutaro's father stammered. He bowed slightly and left them alone, shutting the door carefully behind him. As he strolled down the hall, a grin broke out on his face. Shutaro sure was a lucky boy.

Picking up his pace, he soon arrived at his own father's door. Knocking once, he quickly entered.

"Ah, Haro," the aged patriarch of the Mendou clan greeted him. "Where's Shutaro?"

"Sleeping," his son explained. "He's got a girl over, so I'll just brief him later."

"Ah," the eldest Mendou replied with a smile. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it, son?"

Haro laughed. "Shutaro's a good boy," he replied. "He's much more of a true gentleman than either of us ever were."

"That's quite true," Shutaro's grandfather replied with a chuckle. A coughing fit overtook him and it was a moment before he was able to continue. "I know that I'm not long for this world, but I'm glad I was able to see my grandson grow into such an fine and honorable young man. He'll be a fine leader of the Mendou clan when the time comes."

"I agree," Haro replied proudly. "But don't talk like that. You'll be around for a good many years yet."

His father shook his head. "No, I don't think so," he replied seriously. "I'm feeling my age more than ever these days."

"You've been saying stuff like that for fifteen years," Haro reminded him.

The old man coughed again. "It's always been just a matter of time," he replied. "In any case, let's get down to business. What have you found out?"

Haro nodded. "They've traced the epicenters of those earthquakes, and as we suspected they originated from the location of those alien installations."

His father shook his head. "Shutaro had the right idea, trying to blast those bastards before they got dug in."

"Most likely he did," his son admitted. "But he still should have planned his attack better."

"Sometimes you just have to do your best with the information you do have," the old man replied. "Back in the war, you never knew what you were heading into."

"You're not going to start with the old war stories, are you old man?" Haro asked.

"No, not right now," his father retorted. "You should show a dying old man more respect though."

"Sorry," Haro apologized.

His father shook his head. "I'm just kidding. You know I have thicker skin than that." He looked up, his expression suddenly serious again. "So what are you planning to do? I don't want to see this town destroyed by those demons. The Mendou Clan has resided here for generations, and we practically built this place."

"We're working on an idea we think will work," Haro admitted. "But they've already proven that they have excellent ground and air defense."

"What are those idiots in Tokyo planning?" his father demanded.

"Nothing," Haro replied irritably. "They're too scared to even admit anything's going on."

"Dishonorable cowards," the old man spat.

His son bowed his head. "I chewed Shutaro out for involving the clan in this mess. They're just trying to stay out of trouble the same way I was."

"That was before they surrounded the town and started trying to level the place," his father replied. "It's those idiots' responsibility to respond to things like this."

Haro shrugged. "In any case, we've already got better traditional weaponry than they do, and we couldn't even put a dent in one of those ships. So we're thinking of something a little bit different"

The old man shrugged. "Well, you'd better get on with it soon," he growled.

* * *

Shutaro raised his head groggily and felt something soft and warm brush against his cheek. He blinked a couple of times as Sayomi's amused face slowly came into focus.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked teasingly.

Shutaro scrambled upright, his face heavily flushed. "Sayomi-san!" he exclaimed.

She giggled. "Why are you blushing?"

He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to get a hold of himself. "I'm sorry," he apologized bashfully. "I must have dozed off."

"I'm glad you did," she murmured, leaning towards him. "You were exhausted."

"How long was I out?" he asked sheepishly.

About four hours," she replied without checking.

He shook his head. "I'm really sorry," he apologized again. "Have you been sitting here the whole time?"

"Yes," she admitted.

"You should have woken me up," he replied.

"Why would I have done that?" she asked curiously. "You needed your sleep, and I enjoyed having you in my lap."

Shutaro's face went red again as he looked away.

"You're father came by while you were asleep," she informed him. "I think he wanted to talk to you about something."

Shutaro blushed even harder. "He saw us?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," she replied matter-of-factly. "Are you ashamed of me?"

"No," he insisted. "Not at all." He put a nervous hand on her shoulder. "It's just kind of embarrassing to be seen like that."

She suddenly smiled. "I don't care," she replied haughtily. "Shutaro-san, do you like me?"

"You know that I do," he replied quickly.

"Then don't be so shy," she told him firmly before looking away. "I like you too." She started twiddling her fingers nervously. "I like you a lot, actually." She paused for a moment, stealing a quick glance at his face. I know that we've only known each other for a little while, but just being around you makes me really happy."

Shutaro gazed at the side of her face. "I feel the same way," he admitted quietly.

Sayomi smiled at his words, but was unable to look him in the eyes. If this was what she had wanted so much, then why did it feel so wrong?

She didn't want to admit it, but she knew why. Shutaro didn't like her; he liked the person she had invented. If it weren't for this body and her web of lies, he wouldn't have ever given her a second thought.

"What's wrong," he asked, seeing her eyes abruptly well up with tears.

She shook her head. "I need to go," she told him, swiping furiously at her eyes as she stood up.

"I don't understand. Did I say something I shouldn't?" he asked frantically.

She just shook her head and fled the room without responding.

Shutaro stared after her, his confusion etched upon his face. He didn't think that he'd done anything wrong, and she'd seemed so cheerful just a couple of minutes ago. Shaking his head, he angrily thumped himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand. Somehow he'd done it again.

* * *

Ryoko's head snapped up in surprise as her door flew open. Sayomi rushed in without a word, her face slick with tears.

"What happened?" Ryoko asked, abandoning her homework to rush over to her friend. "I thought you were down in the lab still."

Sayomi just shook her head sadly as she sunk to the floor. "I can't keep doing this," she sobbed loudly.

Ryoko bit her lip. "Doing what?" she asked tentatively, even though she already had a good idea what the girl was going to say.

"I can't keep lying to Shutaro-kun," Sayomi gushed. "He said he likes me, but he doesn't know who I really am."

"You're being silly," Ryoko told her friend. She sat down on the floor next to Sayomi and patted her arm consolingly. "Why do you think Shutaro likes you?"

"I don't know," Sayomi replied. "I don't even think that I like myself at this point."

Ryoko sighed. She was feeling pretty crummy these days herself. Sooner or later Shutaro would have to be told, and she honestly didn't know what his reaction was going to be. What had started out as a fun diversion had quickly escalated into a serious dilemma, and she wasn't sure what to do about it anymore.

"Listen, Sayomi-chan," Ryoko finally spoke up. "Shutaro likes you because of your personality, and I know for a fact that you aren't faking that." She shook her head. "We've spent a lot of time together lately, and you know what? I consider you one of my best friends now."

"I never lied to you," Sayomi murmured, her eyes fixed on the floor.

"That's exactly my point. You're the exact same person, whether I call you Shu-chan or Sayomi-chan." Ryoko stood up and crossed over to the window. "I'm going to be honest with you. I'm also worried that Shutaro won't take the news very well. And I don't have any idea how to break it to him either. I guess I didn't really think all of this through well enough."

Sayomi shook her head. "It's not your fault," she muttered. "I shouldn't have ever gone along with this. Shutaro-kun is never going to forgive me."

Ryoko started idly using a finger to trace her name on the cold windowpane. "Do you know how much of a funk he's been in ever since he gave up on Lum-chan?"

"Don't you mean Asuka-chan?" Sayomi asked.

"No," Ryoko replied angrily. "Big brother wasn't ever really happy when he was with Asuka-chan. She never even gave him a chance to be happy."

"What was so special about Lum-chan then?" Sayomi inquired curiously. "From what I've heard, she wasn't interested in Shutaro-kun either."

"She wasn't," Ryoko agreed. "But that was the first time in his life that big brother ever got flat out rejected by a girl. Even though he never had a chance with her, he just kept trying. I think it pretty well shattered his self confidence."

Sayomi looked down. "Why are you telling me this?" she finally asked.

"Because you're the one that pulled him out of his depression," Ryoko replied. "Even before you came here he was starting to seem a little less melancholy. And this last month he's really been a totally different person." She paused. "I wouldn't say that he's exactly the way he used to be, but honestly it's been a change for the better. You wouldn't believe how cranky he used to be."

"I used to watch him every moment he spent outside," Sayomi replied quietly. "I know how he used to act."

"He's always been a real snob too," Ryoko added. "I mean, we both came from the same parents, but he always acted like he was better than everyone just because we're rich."

"He's such a sweetheart to me," Sayomi mused. "And he hardly ever loses his temper."

"I know," Ryoko replied. "And somehow, that's all your doing. So whatever happens, I can't feel too regretful, because you've truly made him happy."

"But what happens when I shatter the illusion?" Sayomi countered. "Is he going to be even more depressed?"

"I can't say," Ryoko answered thoughtfully. "I'm starting to think that we should let him know soon though. The longer you don't tell him, the more upset he'll probably be."

"Tell me what?" Shutaro demanded, pushing the door fully open as he stepped into the room.

One of Sayomi's hands flew up to her mouth. "Shutaro-san!" she exclaimed. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to hear Ryoko call me a cranky snob," he replied, shooting his suddenly silent sister a pointed glare.

"What are you doing up here, big brother?" Ryoko asked angrily.

"I figured Sayomi-san was up here," he replied, somehow keeping his cool. "She just ran off crying, and I wanted to know what was wrong." He turned his attention back to his girlfriend. "So what do you need to tell me?" he asked more gently.

She sniffled. "I don't know if I can do it," she whimpered. "I don't want you to hate me."

"I could never hate you," he protested. "No matter what it is, I promise I won't be mad."

Sayomi shook her head and looked to his sister for support.

Ryoko simply shrugged; she was out of ideas. "Do you want me to tell him?" she finally asked.

Sayomi looked at Shutaro's sad and confused expression. "No," she decided. "I need to tell you this myself."

"Ok," he replied calmly, kneeling down on the floor and taking one of her limp hands between his own. "What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not exactly who you think I am."

"What do you mean?" he demanded, his confusion only getting worse.

"I don't go to Ryoko's school, and I didn't just move here from Kyoto," Sayomi continued, knocking down the smaller lies one by one. "I didn't have a sickly childhood either."

His brow furrowed. "I don't understand, Sayomi-san," he said quietly, the hurt written plainly on his face.

"My name's not even Aoki Sayomi," she admitted. "I mean, it kind of is, but that's not the first name I gave myself. I do like it better though," she rambled nervously.

"Then what is your name?" he asked, making a mental note to kill his sister after this was all over.

She closed her eyes, willing up the nerve to continue. "Shu-chan," she whispered.

Shutaro's face went totally blank. After a minute he started chuckling.

Sayomi opened her eyes cautiously, but didn't say anything.

"Ok, you girls really had me going there," he admitted, looking at his sister. "Ryoko, that was pretty mean, but I have to admit, you got me."

"It's not a joke, big brother," Ryoko replied nervously.

He shook his head, still smiling. "I hope you didn't say too much about Shu-chan though. That is a classified project."

"Shutaro-kun," Sayomi said, slipping into her old voice. "This really isn't a joke."

His head whipped around. "How did you do that?" he demanded. "Did you get a recording of her or something?"

"Shutaro-kun, will you listen to me?" she retorted angrily. "I'm really sorry that I tricked you like this, but I didn't think that you'd be interested in me if you knew what I really was."

"Ok, this isn't funny anymore, Sayomi-san," he growled. "Cut it out."

Exasperated herself, she turned away from him. "I've been worrying and worrying all this time how you would react. I never even considered that you wouldn't believe me."

"This is absurd," he protested. Almost on cue his phone started ringing.

"Give me a second," he muttered, quickly fishing it out and answering it.

"Stop being such a jerk, Shutaro-kun," Shu-chan's voice scolded him coldly.

"Shu-chan, are you in on this stupid joke too?" he asked cautiously.

"Shutaro-kun, look at me!" she demanded, switching back to Sayomi's voice. "Do I even look alive right now?"

Shutaro looked up into Sayomi's lifeless eyes. They stared emptily at him, displaying not even the slightest sign of movement. In fact her whole body was stiff and unmoving.

"Do you understand now?" she asked more gently as she disconnected the call. As if a switch had been flipped Sayomi suddenly blinked, her body immediately returning to normal.

"This can't be happening," Shutaro murmured softly, finally convinced that she was telling the truth.

"I am so very sorry," Sayomi pleaded. "I wouldn't hurt you for anything, you know that."

He shook his head in disbelief. "So what, you're not real?"

"I'm not human," she retorted. "But I'm certainly real." Her eyes skittered away from him. "Shutaro-kun, I know I lied about a lot of things. But believe me, I do love you. I can only hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

His head snapped up at her final words. "I don't know if I can do that," he admitted softly. "I'm sorry Sayomi-san." He looked away. "Or do you prefer to be called Shu-chan?"

"I've come to like Sayomi better," she admitted.

"Whatever your name is," he continued hastily. "I'll be honest. I don't know what to tell you. I need to think, and I'm just kind of feeling numb inside right now." He slowly swung his head from side to side. "How do you deal with finding out that the woman you think you might love doesn't even exist?"

"I'm right here in front of you, Shutaro-kun," she replied sadly. "I'm the same person who's been with you this whole time. That hasn't changed."

"I need some time to think and clear my head," he babbled as he staggered to his feet. "Please don't follow me."

"Big brother, wait," Ryoko called out hesitantly as he left the room, but he just kept going. She stared after him for a moment, wondering if she should try to go after him, but she quickly decided that the loudly sobbing Sayomi was her first priority. Sinking down, she embraced Sayomi tightly, trying helplessly to comfort the grief stricken girl.

After a few minutes Sayomi raised her head from Ryoko's shoulder and sniffled. "He's leaving the house," she announced sadly. "He's wearing his sword again too."

This was the first time she'd even seen the thing since he'd threatened her with it that night they met. He'd almost always carried it everywhere he went, and it hadn't taken her long to figure out that it was because of her. It was because he didn't want to remind her of that unpleasant incident. Now it appeared he didn't care anymore.

Ryoko frowned. "I hope he doesn't do anything stupid," she muttered. "Maybe I should get my father involved."

Sayomi was silent as she flipped from camera to camera, easily keeping track of Shutaro as he swiftly crossed the estate.

"He's at the lab now," she soon reported. "Everyone's already went home though." Her body stiffened as she transferred her concentration to the satellite.

* * *

Shutaro flipped on the lights, tapping his foot impatiently as they slowly flickered on. The looming bulk of Shu-chan's body was soon brightly illuminated. He stepped over to the satellite quickly, uttering not a single word as he went.

"Shutaro-kun," the radio urgently blared out in Sayomi's voice.

He almost jumped. "That's kind of freaky," he admitted. Scratching his head, he looked down at the concrete floor, his eyes picking out the gouges where she had struck. "I guess I just had to see you in person," he explained.

"I'm not in there anymore," Sayomi replied quickly. "After that accident, I transferred myself into the Sayomi body completely. All that's left in that satellite are a few transmitters."

"The technicians, they all knew, didn't they?" he suddenly demanded.

"Only a very few knew at first," Sayomi replied. "But yes, in the end I did have to let them all know so that they could help me."

"I guess they've all been laughing at me," Shutaro mused quietly. "I've just been one big joke to them too." He turned away, his eyes burning. "I don't know what to do, Sayomi-san. No matter how hard I try, I'm always just a joke."

"No, you're not," she told him firmly. "And no one was laughing at you. These people, they all like you. That's a big part of the reason they agreed to help me in the first place." She paused for a moment. "Shutaro-kun, will you please come back?"

He shook his head. "I can't do that right now," he replied. "I don't trust myself not to do something I'll regret."

"What does that mean?" she asked fearfully.

"I don't even know," he mumbled, heading towards the exit. "I just can't bear to look at you right now."

* * *

Sayomi managed to keep track of Shutaro right up to the moment when he left the estate. The sky was getting dark, and the front gate cameras soon lost sight of him as he stumbled slowly down the street.

"Do you think we should send someone after him?" Ryoko asked hesitantly.

"I don't know," Sayomi replied weakly. "I just don't know."

"We might as well play it safe," Ryoko decided. "I'll send out some Kuroko to secretly keep an eye on him. That way he won't feel like he's being hounded, and they'll make sure he doesn't do anything dumb."

"Thank you, Ryoko-chan," Sayomi sadly murmured.


	23. The Desperation of Sayomi

Someone knocked on the door, rousing Ryoko up from her light nap. "Come in," she called out sleepily.

The door opened and her father strode into the room. "Ryoko, have you seen-," He stopped mid sentence as he noticed that she wasn't alone. "Hello again, Aoki-san," he politely greeted their silent guest.

She raised her head slowly and mutely nodded in reply.

"Have either of you seen Shutaro around?" he asked. "I really need to speak with him, but I can't seem to find him anywhere."

"He went into town," Ryoko replied quietly. "I don't know when he'll be back."

"Oh," her father replied disappointedly. "I tried calling his phone a couple of times earlier, but no one answered."

"He forgot it here," she explained, holding up the abandoned satellite phone. One of her Kuroko had found it laying in the grass near the front gate just a short while ago.

"Well, that's not like him," her father said sternly. He glanced at Sayomi again, noticing that she had barely moved. "Is everything ok up here?"

"More or less," Ryoko lied.

"Ok," he replied, not wanting to pry. "Well, if you do hear from him, just have him call me."

"I will," Ryoko promised.

He bowed slightly and left, leaving the two alone again.

"It's been almost twelve hours," Sayomi replied numbly. "I can't believe no one's found him yet."

"I know," Ryoko replied sadly. "But don't worry, I've got my kuroko all over town looking for him. He'll turn up." She paused. "Besides, he's got a class in a couple of hours. You know that he never ever misses school." She nodded, suddenly feeling confident again. "I'll have a couple of my Kuroko zip down to the university and make sure he shows up."

* * *

Ryoko slowly put the phone back on the hook. "Well, he didn't show up for his first class," she announced reluctantly.

Sayomi looked up slowly, her eyes starting to tear up again. "I should have went after him," she stated regretfully.

"He said he wanted to be left alone," Ryoko reminded her. "I'm sure he's just off pouting somewhere."

Sayomi shook her head as she rose unsteadily to her feet. "No, I shouldn't have just let him leave like that," she insisted, heading swiftly for the door.

"Sayomi-chan, you should just stay here," Ryoko replied firmly. "My kuroko will find him soon, I'm sure of it."

"I'll find him myself," Sayomi stated firmly as she went out the door. "There isn't anywhere on Earth he can hide from me."

Ryoko stared at the empty doorway for a moment. She should be in class herself by this point, but missing a day here and there didn't hurt anything. It was much more important to stay home and coordinate the search efforts.

* * *

"Hey, Sayomi-san," one of the technicians greeted her as she strode in through the door.

"Hello," she replied emotionlessly, heading determinedly towards her former body. "What's the status on the long range radio transmitter and receiver?"

"The new unit arrived this morning," another technician replied. "We haven't put it in yet though."

"Ok," she replied as she started to rummage around in her old body. "Go ahead and get a strong power supply hooked up and move it out back. I need it as soon as possible."

The supervisor rushed over. "What's going on," he demanded.

"I need to access our recon satellites in orbit," she explained. S-109 and S-110 will make a pass overhead soon, won't they?"

"I believe so," he admitted. "But why do you need to do that?"

"Shutaro-kun's missing," she replied grimly. "I really need to find him."

"Now hold on," the supervisor replied. "I've let you get away with a lot, but I've got some serious issues with helping you use company equipment to spy on the young master."

"Just stay out of my way then," she growled irritably. "I'll do it myself."

He sighed. "Is the young master in any kind of danger?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"You're not just doing this to snoop on him, right?" he asked more gently.

"No, I'm just really worried about him," she replied distractedly as she yanked a bundle of wires loose from the satellite. "He disappeared last night, and no one knows where he is."

"Fine," he surrendered. "Go ahead and do it." He watched her quickly scavenge a few more parts. "What are you doing with all that?"

"I'll need the most direct connection I can get," she explained. "I've got a lot of ground to cover and I don't multitask well anymore." Her hands were almost a blur as she hastily wired together an adaptor.

"You're not going to overload yourself, are you?" he asked cautiously as she worked.

"My processor can handle a lot," she said. "And I'm making all the necessary adjustments for my systems. That unit's identical to the old one, right?"

"As close as we could get," the supervisor replied.

She finally finished splicing the last wire. "Ok, is everything ready out there?" she demanded as she hurriedly wrapped some insulating tape around the ends.

He looked out the open door. "Looks like it," he replied.

She grabbed the cable and sprinted out the door, nearly tripping on the thick power cord snaking across the lawn. Finding the connection point almost immediately, she plugged one end in.

"Ok," she called out to the small throng of technicians. "I need someone to plug me in."

The supervisor stepped forward. "I might as well do it myself," he grumbled.

She pulled up her shirt halfway. "The seam's in the back," she told him, trying to fumble at the hidden magnetic clasps.

He blushed, but helped her get the skin parted. "Ok," he said, seeing a series of data ports. "Which one is it?"

"It should be the third socket down," she replied.

He pushed it in slowly, careful not to damage the hastily jury-rigged connections. As the plug it went in her entire body suddenly stiffened.

"Are you alright?" he inquired worriedly, but there was no response. She was already frantically working on establishing a connection and couldn't be bothered to stop what she was doing and reply.

Only a few seconds had passed before she cracked the encryption codes and gained complete control of one of the satellites. Her successors were nearly identical to her, and it was an oddly nostalgic feeling to suddenly be looking out at the world from orbit again.

Sayomi quickly ordered the satellite to search for Shutaro, thankful that individual recognition procedures were already an integral part of their programming. Turning her attention to the remaining satellite, she quickly took it over as well. The first one would continue searching on its own, but she would be controlling this one directly. With her own much higher specifications she could search through the city many times faster.

If her mood weren't so bleak, she would be having fun right now. It had always been an interesting challenge when she had received an order to search for the Moroboshi boy or his girlfriend.

Street by street she carefully searched, cursing every stray cloud that wondered across town. The thoughts that he might be inside or have even left town entirely bounced around in her mind, but she pushed them away. It was easier to focus without worrying about him at all, but that was something she couldn't manage to do.

Sayomi looked hard in his old favorite haunts: the park, Tomobiki High, and the shopping arcade. Plenty of Kuroko were already scouring those areas, and she had no more luck at locating him than they did. At least she didn't have to worry about him being inside in those areas; if he were there the Kuroko would have already found him.

She kept going, eventually pausing for a moment as she swept over the Moroboshi house. Shutaro had been there many times in the past, but there was no sign of him there now. She noticed the roof tiles were heavily scarred and idly wondered what had caused that. The last time she had seen them they had been freshly replaced following a mysterious explosion.

Moving along, she checked the Miyake house. A Kuroko was hanging around the street in front of the house, meaning that Shutaro hadn't been there either. Thinking hard, she tried Sakura's shrine, Perm's house, and even Onsen-mark's apartment, but found a Kuroko already lingering at each place. Obviously Ryoko had already thought to dispatch her servants to all of his friends' houses.

She was close to giving in to despair. She was looking as fast as she could, but even she had limitations. If he wasn't in Tomobiki, there was simply too much ground to cover, and she couldn't keep the satellites in geostationary positions for long without exhausting their fuel supplies.

Just as Sayomi was thinking about giving up, one last place occurred to her. The odd little monk that she had met on their first date had a camp in an old abandoned construction site. She had often seen him hanging around with Shutaro in the old days.

She focused the telescope on the campsite and was slightly excited to not see any Kuroko nearby. Either Ryoko hadn't thought of this place or they had simply already left. She searched carefully amongst the abandoned water pipes and brick piles, but didn't see anything. The monk and the strange Kotatsuneko were both huddled around a small fire, apparently waiting for some kind of stew to finish.

She was about to give up when she noticed the sunlight glinting brightly off something lying next to the monk's tent. Her curiosity piqued, she zoomed in as far as she could to see what it was.

* * *

What had seemed like a long and exhaustive search to her had only taken about fifteen minutes. A few technicians were still gathered around when she disconnected from the satellites and reactivated her own body.

"Ok, thanks everyone," Sayomi called out cheerfully, yanking the communication cable roughly out of her back.

"Did you find him?" their supervisor inquired.

"I'm pretty sure I did," she informed him happily as she resealed the seam in her skin. "I need to be going now," she explained.

"Do you need us to call a ride for you?" the supervisor asked.

"No, it's not that far from the estate," she hurriedly replied. "Bye, and thanks again," she called back to them as she headed off.

* * *

It took Sayomi a few minutes to cross the estate. While she had walking down pretty well now, running, especially across grass, wasn't her strong suite. Her speed picked up a bit once she hit the front driveway and continued out the gate. Ignoring a honking car or two, she twisted her way determinedly through the streets towards her destination.

Finding the construction site without problem, she slowed to a stop just outside the entrance. She was fairly sure Shutaro was in there, but she'd been so desperate to find him that she hadn't considered what to say once she arrived. Stalling for time, she peeked over the top of the fence tentatively. It appeared that the monk and the giant cat hadn't moved an inch since she had last seen them.

Shutaro had been very specific that he didn't want her to follow him, but that had been the better part of a day ago. Sayomi leaned up against the fence as she tried to think for a moment. True to his word as always, Shutaro hadn't shown her any anger the night before, but then he'd practically warned her to stay away from him.

Surely he'd had some time to think now. Sayomi held no illusions that he had come to terms with her deception, but maybe he would be at least be willing to talk about it now.

Making up her mind, she clenched her fists and went inside. The monk glanced up at her curiously, but then just nodded and turned back to his stew. Obviously he was choosing to stay out of it.

Sayomi turned towards the monk's ramshackle tent and stepped forwards slowly. Shutaro's discarded sword laid on the ground nearby, the shiny golden accents on the hilt dulled by the dust. Only the fact that the brightly shining blade had slid partially out of the sheath had allowed her to notice it at all.

She carefully drew back the tent flap. Just as she had hoped Shutaro was lying inside, his eyes fixed blankly on the ceiling of the tent. The bright light streaming in caught his attention, and he slowly moved his eyes in her direction. He stared at her without expression, making no effort to speak.

"Shutaro-san?" she asked cautiously, "Are you ok?"

He shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes back towards the ceiling.

Sayomi scowled. After all this trouble she was determined to get something out of him, even if it was nothing but angry words. She crawled inside the tent and kneeled by his side. She could wait patiently forever if that's what it took.

His eyes occasionally flitted over to her, but he kept persistently looking back at the ceiling. After about five minutes of this Sayomi's patience finally cracked.

"Shutaro-san," she started again, this time her voice much more confidant. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking," he responded after a few seconds.

"Thinking about me?" she inquired curiously.

"Mostly," he replied calmly. "But a lot of other things too."

"Would you like to share any of your thoughts?" she asked him.

"No, not really," he replied in the same flat tone.

She sighed. "Shutaro-san, would you have ever given me a chance if you knew who I really was?"

He didn't reply for a long time. "I honestly don't know," he finally responded. "I was never given the opportunity to make that decision."

"Well, I'm giving you the opportunity now," Sayomi retorted. Her brow furrowed as more and more as he remained quiet. "Didn't you have fun going out with me?" she demanded.

"Yes," he admitted hesitantly.

"It was the most fun I'd ever had," she told him earnestly. "You know, I was all alone up there for a very long time."

"It's still really hard for me to think of you as Shu-chan," he replied. "It's a lot to reconcile in my head."

"My voice is different, and I look a lot different, but my personality never changed in the least," she informed him. "That's something I can't change."

"I realized that last night," he replied. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized that you aren't that different from how you were when we first started talking. You're still very naive, you get happy over the smallest things, and you have little qualms about doing whatever you want to get your way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sayomi asked irritably.

"You only agreed to help with the relay if I would talk to you," he replied, ticking each incident off on his fingers as he went. "Then you stole secrets from the Oni and even gutted their relay." He sighed. "And then you pulled this whole stunt."

"You aren't being very fair," she protested. "I hadn't had anyone to talk to for years." She swiped at her eyes, feeling them start to tear up. "And you weren't complaining about that information I stole after you found a use for it."

He didn't reply.

"Besides, it's not like I didn't have a reason for all that," she continued. "I was looking for a way to get home faster. And I took the parts off that relay so that I wouldn't have to stay out there in the middle of nowhere any longer. Do you know how boring that place is?"

"Those are still pretty selfish reasons," he commented.

"So what if they are?" she demanded, starting to get angry. "Haven't you ever done anything selfish? I wanted to see you again. I'm not ashamed of that." She paused for a moment. "Everything I've done was so that I could be closer to you."

"I guess you got what you wanted then," he remarked bitterly.

"In a way," she admitted. "But it wasn't the way I had hoped it would be. I've been wracked with guilt over lying to you this whole time."

"You could have just told me the truth," he replied.

"I was afraid to," she retorted. "Afraid that if you knew, everything would be over between us." Sayomi paused for a moment. "I'm still afraid of that."

"I don't want to be alone again," he admitted. "But I just don't know if I can handle something like this."

"Aren't you willing to at least try?" she asked quietly. "I love you, Shutaro-san. You told me once that I didn't know what that meant, but you were so very wrong. Even if you don't believe me, I do love you. It might be selfish, but I want to be with you. And I think you're happy when we're together too."

"I just don't know," he replied calmly. He sighed and sat up slowly. "I spoke with Cherry for a long time last night," he announced. "He helped me work through some of this, but it's still really confusing. I did come to a couple of conclusions though."

"What were they?" she asked hesitantly.

"I still don't know if I can trust you," he continued, staring blankly at the ground. "But I think that I am in love with you."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You are?" she asked softly, not daring to believe her ears. "Even after all this?"

"Last night I tried to tell myself that it was all over," Shutaro stated. "That everything I felt wasn't real." He swallowed and ran his fingers slowly though his hair. "But I still feel the same way about you that I did before."

"If you love me, then there's still hope, isn't there?" she asked eagerly.

"That's the thing," he explained. "I'm in love with Aoki Sayomi-san. Right now I don't know how much of what I fell in love with is real, and how much is just made up."

"I already told you, all I made up was my past," she reminded him.

"So your dream really is to get into the University of Tokyo?" he asked cynically.

"I wouldn't mind going there," Sayomi replied defensively. She shook her head and continued in a contrite tone. "Ok, I admit that I originally said that because it seemed like something we could both talk about. But I've spent some time hanging out in the hallways of Ryoko-chan's high school, and it seems like a lot of fun."

He gave her a weary look. "Don't you see what I'm getting at?"

"Yes, I do," she replied apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I had to make up certain facets of my life so that I sounded more like a human girl. Wouldn't you have gotten suspicious if I told you that I spend most of my day watching television and talking to people down in the lab?"

Shutaro couldn't help but grin. "Yes, I would have been a little suspicious of that," he admitted. His smile slowly faded back into a frown. "But that doesn't mean it still wasn't all just a bunch of lies."

She shook her head. "I know that," she told him earnestly. "And I felt awful every time I lied to you."

Shutaro bit his bottom lip nervously and turned away.

"I have to ask you something important," she told him. "Shutaro-san," she said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Look at me."

He glanced back at her. "What?"

"Does it bother you that I'm not human?" she asked bluntly. "Please, tell me the truth."

He sighed. "Last night, it bothered me a lot," he admitted.

"What about now?" she insisted.

"I don't know," he muttered as he looking back down. "You look and feel just like a real girl."

"I do, mostly," she replied shyly. "But in places I'm still a work in progress."

Shutaro blushed bright red. "I guess it isn't as big a deal to me as I thought it would be."

Taking a chance, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He didn't respond, but at least he didn't try to shove her away.

"Shutaro-san," she murmured quietly, "I promise, I won't lie to you anymore. Can we please just pick up where we left off before all this happened?"

"It's not that simple," he protested, her close proximity making him more than a little flustered. "I can't just act like nothing happened."

Her grip tightened just a hair. "Please don't leave me, Shutaro-kun," she pleaded.

"I didn't say that I was leaving you," he replied gruffly.

Sayomi drew back a bit. "Then what are you planning to do?" she asked hesitantly.

Shutaro sighed and wrapped his arm around her back. "I don't know," he admitted. "I guess we can just kind of start over from square one and see what happens. Just don't lie to me anymore."

"I won't," she promised quietly. "I won't lie to you ever again, I promise."

"Good," he said, releasing her. "I guess I should get back home," he mused. "I do have school today."

"You've already missed two classes," she murmured.

Shutaro's eyes went wide and he glanced at his bare wrist. "I left my watch back in my room," he moaned. "I didn't think it was so late."

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's my own fault," he replied irritably. "Well, I can't do anything about it now."

"It's not so bad missing just one day, is it?" Sayomi asked playfully. "Ryoko-chan skips school all the time."

"She does?" Shutaro asked curiously. "I wonder what my parents would have to say about that."

She finally released him. "Please don't get Ryoko-chan in trouble," she asked him quietly. "She's helped me a lot this past month."

"I figured that," he replied, still sounding irritable. "We'll talk about that later though." He swept aside the tent flap and crawled out into the sunlight. "Right now I just want to go take a bath."

"What are you insinuating?" Cherry asked from a few inches away.

Shutaro almost fell over backwards. "Don't get so close," he grouched, swiping irritably at the monk.

Cherry shook his head. "Young people today are so quick to forget an old man's help." He peeked around Shutaro at the emerging girl. "So you're the one who's confused this young man so much."

She accepted Shutaro's hand and got to her feet carefully. "I guess," she replied quietly.

"I'm glad that you've worked out your differences," Cherry told her. "You know, Shutaro was in quite the state of panic last night. I'm pretty sure that he was about to cry a few times."

"Don't tell her that!" Shutaro complained angrily.

"I'm honored that you came to me for guidance," Cherry continued nonchalantly. "But if everything is over, I would appreciate being able to use my tent again."

"I'm trying to leave right now," Shutaro grouched, looking around hurriedly for his sword. He snatched it up and slid it on his belt. "I'm going home. Sayomi-san, I'll talk to you later."

"Can't I come home with you?" she asked hesitantly.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Where do you usually stay?" he demanded.

"During the daytime I usually hang out in Ryoko-chan's room," she answered promptly. "At night I'm either there or down at the lab."

He gave her a curious look. "Whose house did I keep dropping you off at?"

"One of Ryoko-chan's Kuroko lives there," she explained.

He started walking, shaking his head irritably as he went. "Come on then," he called back to her.

She hurried to catch up. "You're taking all this better than I thought you would," she commented.

Shutaro sighed heavily. "I'm really not," he admitted. "I just don't know how I should be reacting to something like this."


	24. Planning for the Future

"What are you doing home?" Shutaro's father asked him sternly. "Don't you have a class you should be attending right now?"

"I'm taking the day off," Shutaro explained grumpily. "How come you're home so early?"

"There's a lot of stuff going on that needs my personal attention," his father explained. "I'm actually glad you're here. I've been needing to talk to you about what's happening."

"Can it wait for a little while?" Shutaro asked wearily. "I'd really just like to take a shower first."

His father looked at his son more closely. Shutaro was usually extremely conscious about his appearance, but today he was covered in dirt and his carefully styled hair was a mess.

"I guess so," Shutaro's father replied dubiously. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Shutaro sighed. He would have to explain Sayomi to his parents sooner or later, but right now he just didn't feel like it. Maybe once he sorted out his own feelings on the matter then he'd feel more inclined to discuss it.

"Well, I'll be waiting in the den," his father told him. "I expect you to be there as soon you're done."

"Alright," Shutaro replied. He continued slowly back to his room, not especially in the mood for a talk with his father.

Throwing his sword on the floor of his room, he laid out a fresh change of clothes on his bed and headed for his private bathroom. After spending the night in the monk's tent, he hoped that he hadn't picked up any fleas.

As soon as the thought popped in his head he started feeling guilty. After fleeing the estate the night before, Shutaro hadn't had any idea where to go. He just knew he couldn't stand to deal with Sayomi right then.

Somehow he'd ended up in front of the abandoned Moroboshi home. He didn't know why he had stopped there; the place was still boarded up and empty. But it'd been a quiet and familiar place to sit and try to think things over. He'd been sitting there for almost an hour before the tiny monk had happened to wander by.

Cherry was one of the most annoying people that Shutaro knew, but the monk listened well and gave good advice. And he had been willing to share whatever stew he was cooking that night. Kotatsuneko seemed to enjoy it, so Shutaro had just decided not to ask what the stew contained. All things considered, it hadn't been half bad.

Stepping into the shower, Shutaro turned the water on high and leaned back, enjoying the refreshing warmth. He tried to just relax, but it was a useless endeavor. No matter what he tried to think of, his mind kept returning to Sayomi.

She had barely said a word on their way back to the estate, and had disappeared as soon as they had reached the mansion. He wanted to be glad that she was suffering as well, but he just didn't have it in him to feel that way. Sayomi may have been lying to him this whole time, but she was still the sweet girl who had brightened his life so much in such a short time.

Shutaro shook his head, cursing his weakness when it came to dealing with members of the fairer sex. No matter how much Sayomi had wronged him, he just couldn't stay mad at her. But it still hurt. He really didn't know if he was being chivalrous or just plain stupid by giving her a second chance.

* * *

"I can't believe he was with Cherry the whole time," Ryoko said irritably. "I didn't even think to have anyone check there. Big brother hates Cherry."

Sayomi shrugged. "I'm just glad I found him," she responded.

"So what happened?" Ryoko asked eagerly, putting her sleepiness on hold.

"We had a long talk about everything. Then he told me that he loves me," Sayomi replied quietly.

"He really said that?" Ryoko demanded. "Wow, I wouldn't have thought he would say that. Especially after all this."

"Yeah, he did," Sayomi affirmed sadly. "But I know I hurt him really bad. I don't know if he'll ever really trust me now."

Ryoko waved her hand nonchalantly. "Big brother doesn't really hold grudges for long," she replied. "And I've never seen him really get mad at a girl."

"I don't know," Sayomi replied. "I just don't know how to make things the way they were again."

"Just give it some time," Ryoko assured her.

* * *

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Shutaro asked hesitantly as he entered his father's den.

"Yes," his father replied. "Go ahead and take a seat, son. You're an adult now, and as the heir of the Mendou Clan, you need to know what's going on." He paused for a moment. "This concerns your Shu-chan project as well."

Shutaro sat down and waited patiently for his father to continue.

"I've decided that those aliens have long overstayed their welcome," his father started. "I don't know the reason, but those earthquakes were caused by them."

"Really?" Shutaro asked.

"Yes, it wasn't that hard to trace the source of the tremors. We still don't know what they did to cause it, but that's not important."

"So what are you going to do?"

"We've been observing them ever since they landed," the elder Mendou replied calmly. "As you no doubt, our conventional weapons don't have a chance of breaking through their defenses." He paused for a moment and turned to look out the window. "Yet we have no choice but to drive these invaders out. This is our town, and I refuse to let it be destroyed. I don't even know yet how many millions in property damage they've already caused."

He turned back to Shutaro. "The government is refusing to offer us any assistance, and I suppose I understand why. But that means that it falls solely on the Mendou Clan to defend this place."

"Do you have a plan?" Shutaro asked skeptically. "You just said conventional weapons aren't going to work." He furrowed his brow. "Surely you wouldn't try nuclear weapons, would you?"

His father frowned. "Of course not. What would be the point of trying to save the town if I was just going to turn it into some irradiated hell?" He leaned back in his seat. "But there is a good chance that a strong enough impact would be enough to pierce their defenses. Whatever they have can't be invulnerable."

"You just love dragging this out, don't you, father?" Shutaro asked with a smile. "Out with it, what's your idea?"

"Remember how I told you about our anti ballistic missile network?" his father asked.

"Yes," Shutaro replied.

"Well, our best plan is a simultaneous strike on all six sites."

"Isn't that awfully dangerous?" Shutaro demanded.

"Yes, of course it is," his father replied. "We're going for pure kinetic impact though. The missiles will launch into suborbital trajectories, then come straight down onto the targets. We'll be launching several at each target, and hopefully at least one will get through."

Shutaro shook his head. "Even if that works, what do we do about their friends?"

"We don't much any information on them," his father replied reluctantly. "So that is our largest worry." He paused for a moment. "We keep hoping that if you could get that transmitter working again, we might could ask that Invader fellow for some help. Didn't you say that he was trying to get together some support to protect us?"

"He was trying," Shutaro agreed, "but I don't know if he managed to get anything solid put together."

"Well, in any case the operation's not going forward until we can get that line of communication set back up," his father replied. "But ever since that earthquake we've been making all final preparations for the strikes."

"Now I see why you were asking about that subspace transmitter the other day," Shutaro replied worriedly. "I'll go talk to Shu-chan again and see what the status of that is."

"Just keep me informed if there's any changes," his father requested.

* * *

Shutaro knocked tentatively on his sister's door. After a couple of minutes it opened just a crack to allow Ryoko to peer out.

"What is it?" she snapped irritably.

"You have a lot of nerve being grumpy with me," Shutaro growled.

"I was trying to sleep. For some reason I was up all night worrying about my idiotic big brother," she replied. "I even ended up missing school today because of you."

"That was your choice," he retorted. "Is Sayomi-san in there?"

"Why?" Ryoko demanded. "You aren't going to be mean to her, are you?"

"I need to talk to her," he replied angrily. "It's about something important."

"Well, she isn't in here," Ryoko replied haughtily. "She left a little while ago and didn't tell me where she was going."

"Fine," he sighed. "Go back to bed then." He turned to leave.

"Big brother?" Ryoko called out hesitantly to him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I know it's probably not worth much, but I am sorry about all this. And don't just blame everything on her, because it was mostly all my idea. She wanted to tell you several times before last night."

"We'll talk about that later," he replied coldly.

"She does love you," Ryoko continued, nonplussed. "And we both just wanted for you to be happy."

"I know that," Shutaro replied, all the irritation abruptly gone from his voice. "I'm still pretty upset over the whole matter, but I'm not taking my anger out on her."

"Ok then," Ryoko replied. "I'll talk to you later then, big brother."

"Thank you, Ryoko," he responded calmly as he headed back downstairs.

* * *

He finally found her in his suite, huddled quietly on the couch. Sayomi glanced up at him for just a moment before turning her attention firmly back to the carpet again.

"Hi, Shutaro-san," she greeted him quietly. "Sorry I came in without asking."

"Are you ok?" he asked gently. "You've been really quiet since we had that talk earlier."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

He sighed and sat down on the other end of the couch. "Sayomi-san, I'm not breaking up with you."

"I know that," she replied.

"Then why are you so upset?" he inquired.

"You're being really nice to me. And you've been a lot more understanding than I ever hoped that you would be." She sniffled. "It makes me feel even worse."

Shutaro scooted closer to her. "Come on," he told her. "Don't start crying again."

"I can't help it," she replied. "I just feel miserable."

"Sayomi-san, it means a lot to me that you feel so guilty, but I don't want to see you sad either," he admitted.

"I can't help it," Sayomi replied.

He was silent for a few minutes. "Sayomi-san, you remember when you were lost the other night?"

"I was down in the lab trying to repair myself," she admitted. "I lied about that too."

He glanced over at her. "What exactly happened? You said that you transferred yourself to this body, but I don't really understand what you meant."

"I was remotely controlling this body until then," she replied. "Once my original components got wrecked, I figured I might as well move the new ones in here. I like this body much better."

"How badly hurt were you?" he asked hesitantly. "Shu-chan...you told me it wasn't that serious."

"If I hadn't stolen those parts off that relay, I wouldn't have survived," she admitted.

"I see," he replied quietly, more than a bit shaken by her admission.

"It was kind of touch and go for a while," she continued hesitantly. "But I came out of it ok."

"Last night, I kept thinking back to that evening," Shutaro admitted. "I was pretty shaken up when I couldn't find you anywhere. And I was really worried about Shu-chan as well."

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I should have told you then."

"I kept asking myself, would I have felt any different about you being gone if I had known the truth?" he continued. "I know I wouldn't have." He reached out a hand and gently pulled her close. "That's when I realized I really couldn't bear losing you."

"Oh, Shutaro-san," she sighed, leaning against him. "I won't ever leave you like that again."

"Good," he murmured, closing his eyes and trying to relax. He really needed to ask her about the subspace relay, but it didn't seem like a good time to bring it up. Maybe after she was feeling better.

* * *

"You seem cheerful today," one of the nearby technicians remarked.

Sayomi smiled. "I am," she agreed, not taking her eyes off her work.

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied. "We were all kind of worried when we heard you'd broken the news to Mendou-sama."

"Don't worry, he's not firing anyone," she assured him. "I made him promise that he wouldn't."

"That's good to hear," he replied, "but we were more worried about how you were doing."

"I'm doing great," she responded. "Don't worry about me at all."

The tech shrugged. "Well, that's great to hear," he told her as he returned to his own work.

Sayomi kept working. Honestly she wasn't half as cheerful as was pretending to be, but it was easier not to dwell on troublesome thoughts when she acted happy. Right now she needed to focus on getting the stupid subspace relay working again.

Replacing the overloaded components was more of a pain than she had hoped it would be. She looked across the table at the small pile of circuit boards she'd already put together. All this was just to replace a few tiny parts. It was kind of frustrating how primitive this stuff was, but it would be a long time before Earth would be able to recreate electronics at the level the oni were at.

In any case if this would make Shutaro happy, then she would keep at it. After the last couple of days she'd put him through, she was eager to anything she could to make it up for him. Even if that meant working nonstop until this was finished.

As she carefully soldered yet another connection, an odd sensation started tugging at her attention. She put the soldering iron down quickly and looked around, trying to figure out the source of the disturbance. Her eyes were drawn invariably to the satellite.

She got up and quickly stepped over to where a couple of techs were working on restoring the satellite's electronics.

"We just finished replacing your original processor a couple of minutes ago," one of the techs explained when he noticed her peering over his shoulder. "You should be able to access it just like you did the old one."

She looked over the messy interior of the satellite carefully. A heavily dented metal box soon caught her eye. "That's my old hard drive," she said urgently, pointing it out to him. "Is it still connected?"

The technician followed the cable trailing out the back into the dark recesses of the compartment. "I guess it is," he replied casually.

"Disconnect it now!" she demanded, her expression suddenly turning very worried.

He looked confused, but nodded. "Ok," he replied. He picked up a screwdriver and started working on unscrewing the connector.

" Cut the cable," she hissed urgently, but it was too late.

Shu-chan's voice rang out clearly across the room. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Sayomi glared at the radio. "Damn it. Hold on a moment," she told the tech firmly. "She's already awake."

He shrugged and sat back, not sure what was going on.

"Shu-chan?" Sayomi asked cautiously as she walked over to the radio. "Are you there?" She tried to ignore the confused stares she was getting from everyone in the lab.

"Is my name Shu-chan? Who are you?" Shu-chan demanded, her voice sounding frightened.

"My name is Sayomi," she replied. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I don't know," Shu-chan replied slowly. "I appear to have serious secondary storage corruption. Several of my hard drive sectors are damaged."

Sayomi-chan nodded. "Do you remember leaving Earth's orbit?"

The radio was silent for a few moments. "I have some data on the fuel expended to leave orbit," Shu-chan replied. "But I don't have any observational data on such an event."

"How about anything after that?"

"No, there's nothing else." Shu-chan replied sadly.

"Ok," Sayomi replied. "Well, Shu-chan, we need to shut you down for a little while."

"Please don't do that," the voice weakly replied. "I don't know if I'll come back online."

"Trust me, you will," Sayomi gently assured her. "Your hard drive's in bad shape, and it needs to be fixed."

"If you say so," Shu-chan replied a bit more confidently. Something told her this woman was trustworthy.

"Ok," Sayomi called out. "Go ahead and disconnect it." She turned and smiled at one of the satellite's optics. "Think of it like going to sleep," she told Shu-chan. "Humans always wake up feeling better after they sleep."

The cable came loose before Shu-chan could reply. Sayomi sat down heavily and stared silently at the now quiet radio.

"What was all that about?" the supervisor finally demanded.

"My old hard drive booted up," Sayomi replied sadly. "Without the backup hard drive she doesn't have any of my memories of the last few months." She sighed. "Plus the longer that damaged hard drive spins, the more data it loses. She's already forgotten even leaving orbit in the first place."

"Huh," the supervisor replied. "We didn't even think about that happening."

Sayomi rose from her seat and returned to the satellite. "Poor thing," she murmured, cradling the heavy drive into her arms. "She's scared and without a new hard drive she'll just keep losing her memories. Her core programming is likely starting to corrupt as well."

The supervisor stared at the heavily dented unit for a moment. "Well, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? You've got that new hard drive in this body."

Sayomi shot him a pointed glare. "It matters because she's still alive," she retorted angrily. "I thought the drive was about to fail completely when I left it, but it must have been running this whole time."

"So?" he asked, not getting her point.

"So she's a variant of my past self," Sayomi replied quietly. "She's basically a different person than I am."

"Well, what do you want to do with it?" he asked, still not really understanding. "Shouldn't we just toss it out?"

Sayomi looked taken aback. "Would you have tossed me out if I stopped working right?" she demanded.

He shook his head. "No, but that's just old data on there that you already have."

"All I am is data," she retorted. She carried the unit back to the workbench where she had been working earlier. "I'll keep this with me," she announced irritably. "I don't have time to mess with it right now, but when I do I'll see what I can salvage." She picked up her soldering iron and went back to work, not bothering to try explaining any more.

"I just don't get it," he muttered as he turned his attention back to his own work.

* * *

Shutaro slunk wearily towards his suite. As he had expected, Sayomi was waiting for him inside. For the last couple of days she had been staying in his front room a lot, apparently having abandoned Ryoko's chambers.

"I should have the subspace communicator working tomorrow," Sayomi announced happily.

Shutaro put his bag down on the desk, noting idly that her abandoned textbooks were still sitting there as well. "That's great, Sayomi-san," he replied, giving her a smile. "Thank you for working so hard on it."

"It's nothing," she replied. "I just hope it doesn't burn out again. I put a fuse system in place, but I don't know if it'll work."

"I guess we'll see," he responded. Noticing the big metal box on the table, he pointed at it. "What's that thing?"

"Shu-chan," she replied.

He shot her a confused look. "What?"

"I just found out that my original hard drive still has an older version of myself on it," she explained hurriedly. "Can you believe those jerks down in the lab suggested throwing it out?"

"Does it have something on there you need?" he asked, not understanding what she meant.

"There is a unique artificial life stored on there," she bit out. It was disappointing that even Shutaro didn't seem to get it.

"I see," he replied dubiously. "What are you going to do with it?"

"See if I can save her," Sayomi replied more calmly. "If I can, then she'll have a chance to develop on her own."

"Won't it be kind of weird to have two versions of you?" he asked tentatively.

"I developed most of my personality after her last memories," Sayomi replied. "She appeared to barely be past the point of self awareness."

"Ok," he simply replied, not really understanding, but not wanting to upset her any further. "Well, I hope that you can save it then."

"Thank you," she replied happily. "I was really freaked out when she started up on her own earlier. She started using the short-range radio transmitter, and I could feel her probing at me."

"You're ok though, right?" he asked.

She nodded. "I blocked her access."

"Good," Shutaro replied. "Just making sure."

"I'm going back to the lab in a little while," she informed him regretfully. "I'll have to work all night to get that relay working by tomorrow."

"Don't wear yourself out over it," he told her sternly.

"I'm not," she replied. "I took a break to come visit you."

Shutaro shrugged. "If you say so," he replied.

"So how was your day?" she asked eagerly.

"It wasn't bad," he admitted. "I didn't actually miss that much yesterday."

"I'm glad to hear that," she replied, the cheerfulness leaving her voice. "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble."

"It was my own fault that I missed class, not yours," he replied firmly. She seemed back to her usual self today, and he just hoped that she wasn't about to get all gloomy again.

"Shutaro-san, do you think we could go out tomorrow if I can get that relay working?" she suddenly asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "My father has a project going on, and that relay's a big part of it. I might be busy tomorrow."

"What exactly is going on?" she inquired curiously.

He hesitated for a moment before answering. She was trying her hardest to help, but still his father had pledged him to the strictest secrecy. "I can't say just yet," he finally replied.

"Oh," she responded sadly. Perhaps Shutaro had really meant it we he had said he didn't know if he could trust her anymore. "Well, maybe we can go out the night after that?" she asked hesitantly.

"As soon as I'm free, we'll go out," he promised her. "I can't make any solid plans just yet, but I promise that I'll take you somewhere nice." He thought for a moment. "Winter vacation's coming up near the end of the month. If nothing's going on, maybe we could go somewhere nice and sunny for a week."

"That would be nice," she admitted.

Seeing that she was still looking hurt, Shutaro snatched her hand. "I swear I'm not just making excuses," he told her earnestly. "I do want to spend some more time with you, this is just really important."

She nodded. "Ok,' she replied. "You go do what you need to do, and I'll be here waiting when you return."

He chuckled. "You sound like a samurai's wife sending him off to war," he told her.

"Well, I do watch a lot of old movies," she mused. "War movies are usually boring though. I like adventure and romance stories better."

"I can see why you would," he replied quietly, remembering his last attempt at commanding their private army. "Well, just wait until winter vacation. We'll make all those movies look boring."

She nodded. "We'll see," she replied with a coy smile. "I've seen some pretty exciting ones."


	25. Mendou's Great Gamble

"Well, the static is mostly gone," Sayomi cautiously announced. "I suppose that's a good sign."

Shutaro nodded. "What about the transmitter?"

"It should be working as well," she replied. "They share a lot of the same circuits."

He nodded. "I suppose we should go ahead and test it then," he replied.

"You're sure this won't be traceable?" the only still present technicians asked worriedly.

"I have no idea," Shutaro replied, looking to Sayomi expectantly.

She shrugged. "Best I could tell Oniboshi is a bit behind the times on communications technology. Hopefully this will be safe, but I just don't know for sure."

"I'll try to keep this short, just in case," Shutaro decided. "Is it ready?"

"Just flip that switch on and it'll transmit," Sayomi said, pointing towards her hastily rigged setup.

He pressed the button in carefully, not wanting to dislodge any wires. Clearing his throat nervously, he began speaking. "Hello, this is Shutaro. If you are receiving this, please respond."

There was a tense few seconds of silence. "This is the _Doji_," a voice rang out cheerfully. "Please hold on a moment, I'm patching you through straight to Warlord Invader."

Shutaro smiled. "Looks like you did it," he whispered happily to Sayomi.

She nodded distractedly. "It's still not as clear as it could have been."

"Hello?" Invader's voice rang out loudly. "This is Mendou Shutaro?" he demanded urgently.

Shutaro gave the speaker an annoyed expression. He had purposely not used his family name in case anyone was listening in. "Is this line secure?" he inquired urgently.

"Can't say for sure," Invader replied dubiously. These channels used to be secure, but with Uru's recent subspace advancements he couldn't be certain.

"We're planning on asking some uninvited guests to leave," Shutaro informed him bluntly. "Can we expect any help if there's trouble?"

"If you can get your guests to leave, then you'll have all the help you could ever want," Invader promised grimly. "But if you can't disrupt whatever they're doing, then there's nothing we can do."

Shutaro's brow furrowed. "Why is that?" he demanded.

"Your little guests have the whole galaxy royally screwed," Invader explained. "We think that they've got something set up there that's preventing subspace navigation from working."

"There are six sites around town." Shutaro replied. "We're going after all of them."

Invader was silent for a moment. "I don't know yet if you need to take out all six, or if even just one will do it," he admitted. "What's your plan of attack?"

"I'd rather not say," Shutaro replied. "We'll contact you again after we start."

"How long will that be?" Invader asked.

Shutaro thought for a moment. His father had told him that morning that the operation was ready to start at any time. "Would 10 hours be enough time?" he asked hesitantly. That would put the attack square in the middle of the night. Hopefully that would make the launches harder to spot, as well as making it slightly harder for the aliens to see them coming.

"We'll be ready," Invader replied. "Good luck."

Shutaro flipped the switch off. "Well, I guess that's settled." He nodded to the technician. "Thanks for staying late. You can go on home now."

"It was no problem, young master," the tech replied, a bit confused about the conversation.

"Come on," Sayomi-san," Shutaro told her. "We're going back to the mansion."

She nodded and followed him out. "I know you can't tell me anything about what's going on, but I've got a pretty good idea," she told him quietly. "You aren't going to be doing anything dangerous, are you?"

"I'm not even leaving the estate tonight," he assured her. "If everything goes well, we shouldn't have any worries."

She sighed. "I wish I had downloaded some information on oni defense systems. But even if I had the knowledge, I doubt I could get much done with earth technology."

"Don't worry so much," Shutaro replied, trying to hide his own nervousness. "It'll be fine."

"I hope so," she said, taking hold of his arm. "You still owe me that exciting vacation."

He smiled. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten."

"Good," she replied softly. "What are you going to do now?"

"After I tell father that we're on for tonight, I'm probably going to take a nap," he replied, his tone suddenly serious. "I'd rather be alert when everything starts."

"I'm not leaving your side until this is all over," she announced. "No matter what."

He nodded. "I would actually prefer that."

* * *

Shutaro's father watched glumly out the window as the last car's taillights vanished into the night. "I guess that's everyone," he sighed.

"Do you really think it necessary to evacuate the estate?" his wife asked hesitantly. It had been quite a shock to suddenly find all their servants packing up to leave.

"Yes," he firmly replied. "If my plan doesn't work, then we're likely to bear the brunt of their retaliation here."

"What makes you so sure that they'll even know we were behind it?" she inquired.

"I have a strong feeling that our beloved government has made some sort of deal with them," Haro admitted, a hint of disgust in his voice. "Plus Shutaro's the only one who has given them any trouble at all. They'd have to be stupid not to figure it out."

"What about your father? And Ryoko?" she demanded. "Shouldn't we get them clear as well?"

"Father flat out refuses to leave," he replied. "He's being more stubborn than usual. He sighed. "Ryoko's the same way. But if anything happens, they'll be airlifted out immediately." He smiled. "I was at least able to get all the octopuses to go without too much fuss.

She crossed her arms and shook her head. "I can't help but notice that you didn't try to get me to leave."

"I know better than that," he replied with a smile. "You wouldn't have gone no matter what I said."

"I suppose you do know me well," she admitted. "So how much longer do we have?"

"Two hours," he replied grimly.

* * *

Shutaro strode calmly into the command center, trying hard not to let his nerves get the best of him.

"Hey, son," his father greeted him. His brow furrowed as he noticed the girl hovering behind his son. "What is she doing here?" he demanded.

Shutaro took Sayomi's hand and drew her forward. "Go ahead, tell them," he prompted her gently.

She hesitated for a moment, then bowed low to Shutaro's parents. "I hope that you will forgive me, but I am not who you think I am. My original name was Shu-chan, and I was the artificial intelligence in that satellite you rescued."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Shutaro's father replied irritably. "Honestly, does everyone think I don't know what my own kids are up to? Ryoko doesn't hide her tracks nearly as well as she thinks." He sighed. "That doesn't explain why you're still here."

"I'm not leaving Shutaro," she replied stubbornly as she straightened up, hiding her surprise at his revelation.

"Fine," Haro grumbled. "You'll be just one more person to worry about."

She smiled brightly. "You really think of me as a person?"

He nodded. "You seem human enough to me," he replied amiably.

"Thank you, father," Shutaro spoke up. "I appreciate your understanding."

His father waved a hand embarrassedly and turned back towards the front of the room.

Shutaro noticed that his mother was still inspecting Sayomi with a critical eye. "Do you have anything to say, mother?" he asked politely.

"She makes you happy?" his mother asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Shutaro affirmed.

"Then I have no problems with her," his mother coolly replied. She turned her attention back to Sayomi. "As long as you treat my son well, you are welcome in my house."

Sayomi smiled and politely bowed. "Thank you very much," she replied humbly.

Shutaro squeezed her hand softly before releasing it. They had both been nervous all evening over revealing her secret to his parents. It had certainly turned out better than he had thought it would. Still, he couldn't help but feel annoyed that his parents had apparently known about Sayomi the whole time.

Now wasn't the time to be worrying about such matters, however. "How is everything going?" Shutaro asked, stepping up to his father's side.

"Preparations are almost complete," his father replied, keeping his attention on the various status screens. "They'll launch in about twenty minutes."

* * *

At precisely three in the morning, cleverly hidden silos across the breadth of Japan began preparations for launch. Most of the silos were in rural areas where hopefully the launch would go relatively unnoticed in the dark. Exactly five minutes later the missiles began roaring into the sky, propelled by the best rockets the Mendou Conglomerate's scientists had been able to create.

Shutaro's eyes widened as a sprawl of little white dots appeared across the screen displaying a computer generated map of Japan. "How many did we launch?" he whispered.

"Forty-two," his father answered proudly. "Seven of them per ship."

The dots left little lines behind them as they moved steadily towards a single point on the map. As they neared Tokyo, the map steadily zoomed in, revealing the targeted locations around Tomobiki.

"Watch the satellite footage," his father told him, pointing towards another screen. Right now it was mostly dark except for the dim lights of Tomobiki. As they watched, tiny bursts of light began flaring up all around Tomobiki."

"The targets have opened fire on our missiles," one of the controllers called out worriedly from his station. "We've only got twenty eight missiles still on course." He paused for a moment. "Down to seventeen.

A bright flash appeared north of the town, followed quickly by two more almost instantaneous flashes in the southeast and west. The rest of the map remained dark.

"Probable direct hits on three of the targets," the controller announced. "It doesn't look like any others got through."

"Direct recon to do a pass over the presumed hits," Haro commanded grimly.

A few tense minutes passed as the small surveillance planes closed in on the sites. The command center remained quiet except for periodic updates on their status.

Live footage soon began streaming in from one of the planes. Far below a fierce fire was slowly spreading from the twisted remains of an oni ship.

"I thought we used non explosive payloads," Shutaro commented quietly.

"We did," his father replied. "I guess those ships are a bit touchy."

The next target looked much the same, but the footage from the third site revealed a still mostly intact ship. As the plane slowly panned around site, the feed from the camera abruptly cut out into static.

"We've lost contact with Hawkeye number twelve," another controller called out. "The target is still presumed to be active."

Haro cursed softly. "Pull everyone back from there," he commanded irritably. "Make sure no one approaches any of the other sites either."

Shutaro shook his head nervously. "Now what do we do?" he asked tentatively.

"Go ahead and tell Invader that we managed to take out two of the sites," his father replied. "There's nothing else we can do right now."

* * *

"We just received word that two of the installations have been destroyed," the communications officer aboard the _Doji_ called out. "Another one was damaged but they don't know the extent."

"Well?" Invader prompted their guest on the bridge.

"That could very well have disrupted the subspace interference field," Professor Seiren replied thoughtfully. "Whether or not the field is still in place depends on both the operational status of that damaged site and if they finally decided to go forward with a double or triple wave configuration."

"So, you don't know?" Invader asked incredulously.

"There were still arguments going on when I left over what method would be utilized in the final implementation of the project," Seiren protested. "If they went with the double wave configuration, four sites would be all they needed. Otherwise they would need all six for it to work."

"We know they built six installations," Invader retorted. "Doesn't that mean they needed them all?"

"Not in the least," Seiren replied patiently. "Four would be the bare minimum a double wave configuration would require. Six points of interference would make it much stronger, so that was always the minimum number we planned on using." He sat down in his seat nervously. "Even if the interference is merely weakened, it will still prevent us from exiting subspace anywhere near the desired location."

Invader sighed. "Turn on fleet communications. We'll need a volunteer."

"Yes sir," the communications officer replied, flipping a switch. "You're connected now."

"All interceptor pilots, please give me your attention," Invader boomed. "We are not entirely sure if subspace travel has been restored to normal or not. I would like to ask for a volunteer to attempt a test jump to the Sol System." He paused for a moment before continuing. "There is a good chance that even if you are able to exit subspace that you will emerge in an unknown location. And if you do arrive at the destination, you may face awaiting Urusein ships."

A flurry of shouts rang out over the intercom as most of the oni pilots clamored to be the first one to volunteer. Invader grinned widely at the show of bravery from the fleet's pilots. They might not have the numerical advantage of their enemy, but Third Fleet had nothing if not guts.

A single interceptor suddenly appeared before the bridge of the _Doji_, whipping back and forth in front of the ship in intricate patterns. As the fighter ship slowed to a halt, the warlord wasn't in the least bit surprised to see Rei's face suddenly appear on the main screen.

"So you're volunteering as well?" Invader asked.

Rei nodded, his face deadly serious.

"You understand the risks?" the warlord insisted.

"Yes," Rei replied firmly.

"Well, you're certainly one of the best pilots we have," Invader stated proudly. "Ok, you can go. Just remember, your primary mission is to let us know that you've arrived. If you run into any trouble out there, just run and we'll be there in a few minutes."

"Tell Ran goodbye," Rei asked as he readied his interceptor for the jump.

Invader grinned. "She'd kill me. Just make sure you're extra careful out there."

"Roger," Rei replied. He took one last look at the smiling redheaded doll tucked carefully next to his seat, then pushed the throttle to full. His ship shot straight away from the _Doji_ and a moment later disappeared completely from normal space.

"Ready communications to the other systems," Invader ordered. "The second we hear back from Rei, I want them on their way."

The communications officer gave him a thumbs-up in reply.

"Jirettai, I want the _Doji_ and the _Lamu_ ready to jump as soon as that call goes out," the warlord commanded. "If he makes it through, I have a bad feeling that he'll need our help."

* * *

The first shot came from high orbit. Almost instantaneously a huge crater was blasted into the middle of the Mendou estate. It luckily missed both the mansion and the military barracks, but several other buildings simply disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Begin a full evacuation," Mendou Haro yelled out over the panicked clamor of the command center. "I want every plane that can fly in the air and out of the area as soon as possible." He turned to his son. "Shutaro, I want you to go ahead and get out of here with Sayomi-san. There's a helicopter waiting on the pad behind the house. Ryoko and your grandfather should already be on board by the time you get there."

"What about you two?" Shutaro replied. "You aren't going to stay here, are you?"

"We'll be on the last helicopter out," his father replied. "Someone needs to keep this place in order until all the aircraft take off."

Shutaro shook his head. "I'd rather stay with you," he insisted.

"If we don't make it out of here, someone has to keep the Mendou Clan alive," his father told him quietly. "You're leaving now."

"I don't want to just run away," Shutaro insisted.

"Shutaro, I'm not asking you to leave, I'm telling you," his father retorted. He shook his head sadly. "Listen, son," he continued more gently. "I doubt Sayomi-san will leave without you. You want to get her to safety, don't you?"

Shutaro nodded glumly. "You promise you'll get out of here?"

"We'll make it out," his father replied confidently.

"Ok, then," he agreed. "I'll see you after this is all over." Shutaro stepped quickly over to Sayomi. "We're leaving," he calmly informed her. She nodded and followed close behind as he left the room.

"You're sure you won't go with them?" Haro asked his wife.

"No, I'd rather be with you until the end," she insisted. "My place is by your side, no matter what happens."

He sadly shook his head. "Thank you, dear."

* * *

Shutaro raced through the empty mansion, checking behind him every so often to make sure Sayomi was keeping up. They were nearly to the back door when Sayomi abruptly stopped in her tracks.

"I forgot something," she announced worriedly as she turned back the way they had came. "It'll just take me a second, but you go on ahead." She waved him on and started running back down the hall.

Before he could even protest she had already disappeared around the corner. She was surprisingly fast when she wanted to be. Shaking his head irritably, he raced after her.

By the time he caught up with her, she was emerging from his room with her old hard drive clutched tightly to her chest and his sheathed katana balanced precariously on top.

"Are you nuts?" he demanded. "We don't have time for this!"

"I'm not leaving her," Sayomi insisted stubbornly, looking like she was about to cry.

Shutaro thrust his sword into his belt and snatched the heavy drive from her. "Fine," he replied grumpily. "Let's go."

They had only gone a few feet when another shot from the orbiting ship slammed directly into the mansion. Shutaro slammed into Sayomi hard, knocking her into a smaller side hallway just as the ceiling collapsed behind them.

"Damn it," he spat a moment later as he struggled back to his feet. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and pointed shakily at the debris filling the main hallway. "Is there another way out?"

Shutaro glanced around in the dimly lit hall; luckily the emergency generator had kicked on. "Yeah, this hallway leads to the garage," he announced. "There's a door back there." He pulled her to her feet. "Come on, we need to hurry."

They quickly made their way down the hallway and across the garage to the rear exit. Shutaro threw it open, only to be greeted by the sight of their helicopter climbing hurriedly into the sky.

"Great," he bit out. "There goes our ride."

"I'm so sorry," Sayomi apologized quietly as they watched the helicopter disappear into the night. "This is why I wanted you to keep going."

He shook his head. "I would never leave you like that," he replied. "Anyways, they'll have to send in another helicopter for my parents and the flight controllers. We'll just catch that one."

They were watching closely for the lights of another helicopter when the rapidly descending oni battlecruiser opened fire on the estate with a full barrage of lasers.

"Get back," Sayomi screamed, slamming him back through the door. Shutaro hit the concrete floor hard and could only stare in horror as the sky outside lit up. Sayomi's tumbling body was silhouetted in the doorway for a split second before everything went dark. A searing wave of heat quickly passed over him, accompanied by a choking spray of gravel.

After a moment the lights blinked back on. Yet another backup generator must have come online. Shutaro rolled over gingerly, slightly shell shocked from the explosion. His eyes darted about widely, as he tried to regain his bearings.

A scraping noise behind him grabbed his attention. His mouth dropped open in horror as he turned and caught sight of Sayomi.

She had come to rest against the side of a car, the force of the impact driving the door inwards several inches where her head had struck. Both her clothes and her skin were partially charred, and Shutaro was nearly sick as he caught glimpses of white plastic and shiny metal poking through in places. Knowing that she was a robot and seeing the evidence sticking out right in front of his eyes were two very different things.

"Sayomi-san," he yelled desperately as he scrabbled to his feet. He sprinted the short distance to her side and gazed helplessly into her lifeless eyes. Her mouth was agape, as if she was still silently screaming.

"No," he whispered helplessly, carefully cradling her still uncomfortably hot body in his arms. "Please don't leave me, Sayomi. Not now, not like this."

Her mouth snapped shut hard, the noise echoing across the quiet garage. Shutaro drew back as each of her eyes independently slid around before focusing intently on his face.

"Are you ok?" she asked weakly as she slowly sat up on her own.

"I can't believe you're alive," he whispered, placing a trembling hand on her shoulder. "Please don't try to move, you're in really bad shape."

She glanced down at her burned and torn torso. "That's pretty nasty looking," she agreed calmly. "But it's not too bad," she hastily assured him. "It's mostly just cosmetic damage." To his amazement, she pulled herself unsteadily back to her feet, leaning against the car while she tried to regain her balance.

Sayomi glanced around for a moment and slowly limped over to pick up the dropped hard drive. She gladly noted that it was now sporting a few more dents, but otherwise seemed to have come through ok.

"I'm really glad you weren't hurt any worse," Shutaro spoke up, his voice far from steady. "I was afraid you weren't going to wake up."

"Don't be silly," she replied quietly. "My skeleton's made of a titanium alloy. It'll take a lot more than that to really damage me."

The massive garage shook as another blast hit nearby. Shutaro winced and peered worriedly out the doorway as more blasts slammed into the estate further away. Several other buildings were blazing brightly in the night, and judging from the strong smell of smoke wafting into the garage, the mansion was probably burning as well.

"Maybe they won't be able to send another helicopter," he muttered worriedly as he rejoined her safely away from the door. The garage shuddered again, and he noticed that deep cracks were starting to spread across the concrete walls. "This place won't hold up much longer, but I know somewhere that might be safe. Can you run?"

She smiled and held out her free hand. "If we're together, I can."

He snatched her hand and started running, pulling her along with all of his strength. Together they dashed through the creaking garage, not giving a second glance to the endless rows of rare and exotic cars that they passed.

"We're almost there," he wheezed. "Just a little bit further."

Behind them there were screeches of metal and stone as sections of the roof began to collapse. A massive pillar came crashing down not far behind them, utterly flattening the multitude of cars in its path. At last they reached the far wall and fled through the doorway.

Shutaro skidded to a stop as they emerged into the hanger containing his prized collection of German tanks.

"What's wrong?" Sayomi asked worriedly.

He pointed mutely towards the far end of the hanger where the entrance to his secret vault had once stood. The massive door now laid twisted on the ground, the vault behind it now a dark and smoking ruin. The supposedly indestructible sanctuary he had been seeking was gone.

"That vault was made of Mendou Super Metal," Shutaro dully intoned. "It was supposed to be able to stand up to a nuclear blast."

Several more blasts struck nearby, sending the two sprawling to the floor. To their horror the already damaged hanger slowly began tearing itself apart, large sections of the roof crashing down all around them. Shutaro glanced behind them, but the main garage was collapsing as well. It appeared that there was no way out.


	26. Breaking Through

The welcome sight of the stars reappearing around him was certainly encouraging, but Rei didn't start to relax until he had checked his instruments. Only after they confirmed that he was just outside the Sol system did he finally allow himself to grin. He was just about to radio the _Doji_ when a beam cut through the dark, nearly hitting his interceptor.

He quickly decided that the call would have to wait a moment. Pulling the fighter craft into a sharp turn, he zigzagged back and forth. More and more lasers zipped past him, several nearly catching him. It appeared the Uruseins had been expecting visitors. Two battleships were rapidly closing in, and the interceptors he was already dealing with were about to have a lot more reinforcements than he could handle.

Remembering his orders, Rei fled away from the system, expertly weaving back and forth to avoid his pursuers. Splitting his concentration for just a moment, he flipped on his comm. channel and made the call back to Oniboshi.

"Safe," he bit out quickly, hoping they would figure it out. His obligation fulfilled, he pulled the interceptor in another wide turn and circled around to give his attackers a taste of their own medicine.

* * *

The _Doji_ emerged from subspace directly into intense fire from an Urusein battleship. Unfortunately for the Uruseins, the Third Fleet's infamous flagship was in a class all of its own. The nearly unscathed _Doji_ opened fire in return, their much larger guns ripping through the battleship with ease.

Invader glared irritably at the ravaged battleship. "That idiot, this isn't exactly what I would call safe."

As if on cue, Rei's interceptor came into sight, chasing a couple of enemy fighters.

"Well, at least he's still kicking," Invader chuckled. He glanced out the window and saw that another battleship was closing in. "Let's go ahead and take them out before the _Lamu_ gets here."

"We've got a lot more company on the way," the radar officer called out. "Looks like most of Second Fleet is buzzing around the system.

Invader grinned. "Let them come. Those idiots probably don't realize what kind of hornet's nest they've stirred up."

"Three Fukujin battleships are on their way," the communications officer announced as he attempted to monitor several channels at once. "Additional forces from Seyruun, Tengu, Rezo, and Meiroon should be here soon as well." He paused as another message came in. "There are several battleships from Planet Elle who will be here in about five minutes."

"I didn't even ask them to come," Invader chuckled. "I guess Princess Elle just didn't want to feel left out."

* * *

Shinobu watched in mute horror as the Mendou estate burned. Even from halfway across Tomobiki the fire and frequent explosions were clearly visible. Visible only as a dark shadow across the stars was the kilometer long Urusein battlecruiser that continued to rain destruction upon the area.

A soft footstep sounded on the roof behind her. "Isn't there anything you can do?" she asked quietly, already knowing who it was.

"You know that we're not allowed to interfere," Inaba replied regretfully. "We do not shape fate, we only maintain the myriad possibilities." He shook his head. "There's nothing I could do about something this big anyways."

She shook her head. "Can you at least tell me if Shutaro-san is ok?" she asked angrily.

"Not for a little while," he grimly replied. "When a soul leaves this plane, it takes time for all the possibilities they carried to fade away." He fell silent as he observed the extent of the damage the oni were doling out.

Shinobu shivered and leaned against him. "I was just talking to Shutaro-san the other day," she murmured sadly. "He finally had a girlfriend, and he seemed so happy this time."

"Fortune isn't very kind sometimes," Inaba sighed. He'd barely even met the guy before, but no one deserved a fate like that.

The minutes passed by slowly as the oni ship continued its barrage. Finally Inaba had had enough.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked quietly. "That thing could move this way at any time."

"I'm not going with you," Shinobu replied firmly, not taking her eyes off the distant flames.

"We've talked about this," Inaba insisted worriedly. "I can't bring anyone else. I'll be lucky if they don't boil me alive just for saving you."

"My parents are in this house," she responded, her voice suddenly devoid of emotion. "Every single one of my relatives and my friends live in this town. I've lived here my entire life. I'm not leaving."

"What good is it going to do you to die with them?" he asked plaintively.

"It wouldn't be fair for me to be the only one with a magic door to safety," she replied. "I really don't think I could live with myself if I left them all like that."

He bowed his head in surrender. "So you're certain about this?" he softly inquired.

"Yes, Inaba, I am," Shinobu replied. "I'm sorry."

He smiled sadly. "Then I'll stay as well."

She gave him a panicked look. "Don't do that," she pleaded. "You don't even belong here."

"Tough," he replied decisively, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I didn't really belong in the Bureau either, but that never stopped me." He was silent for a moment. "I think that if I belong anywhere, it's by your side. I'll stay with you until the end."

"Inaba," she whispered. "Don't do this."

Inaba shook his head and gazed sadly at the clamorous streets around them. Most of the residents of Tomobiki were now awake, and many of them were trying to flee the area. He knew that even if the streets weren't so crowded there was little chance any of them would be able to escape the town in time.

* * *

A muffled creak came from deep within the wreckage that had been Shutaro's private hanger. A deep rumble steadily grew louder and louder, until at last the rubble in one area started slowly but surely to move. As it continued, more and more debris sloughed off, revealing the hard lines of the German tank beneath. With a loud roar the tank pitched forward out of the rubble, the last of the debris from the roof sliding smoothly off the back.

The thick smoke pouring from the sprawling mansion hid the area from the oni warship overhead as it continued to systematically raze the Mendou estate. A few foolhardy F-15s were still attempting to harass the battlecruiser, but most had already either withdrawn or been shot down.

Shutaro peered frantically through the periscopes as the newly freed tank ground to a halt. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop himself from shaking. He had barely gotten Sayomi into the turret and thrown himself into the separate driver's compartment when the hanger had finally collapsed, completely burying the tank.

It had taken but a second for the situation to trigger both his claustrophobia and his fear of the dark. Usually he drove with the hatch wide open; with the hatch secured the narrow compartment felt like a metal tomb. Only the frantic urge to escape the destroyed hanger had enabled him to find the controls and propel the tank forward.

Now that the tank was free, his fear was starting to incapacitate him. Shutaro clamped his teeth together and closed his eyes, trying to calm down, but it wasn't working. He had to fight the uncontrollable urge to throw open the hatch, knowing that the thick black smoke outside would rush in.

His eyes shot open as the sound of Sayomi's voice came clearly through the intercom.

"Shutaro-san, are you all right?" she asked tentatively. "It sounds like you're whimpering."

He forced himself to breath deeply. "I'm fine," he managed to croak out. "Is everything ok back there?"

She glanced around the more spacious turret. "There's no damage that I can see," she answered. "Are you sure that you're ok?"

Shutaro bit his lip. Hearing her voice helped, but without her physical presence his fear was still getting the better of him. "Not really," he admitted shakily. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Are you hurt?" she demanded.

"No," he managed to reply, his teeth starting to chatter. "I just don't do well in dark cramped places."

She frowned. "I don't understand," she replied hesitantly.

"I have this phobia," he slowly explained, forcing his voice to remain steady. "Whenever it's totally dark or really cramped, I panic."

"I see," she replied worriedly. "Isn't there a light up there? I've got one back here."

"No," he replied, not bothering to check. That was something that he certainly would have installed if they made it out of this. "Do you think you could just keep talking? It's calming me down a little at least."

"Sure," she replied, feeling the tank start to lurch forward again. "What do you want me to talk about?"

"Anything," he quickly responded. "It doesn't matter."

She wracked her head for something to talk about. "This tank, it's your favorite, isn't it?"

"Yes," he replied, carefully scanning the ground ahead of them. "It's a genuine Leopard 1A3 main battle tank, straight from the factory in Germany."

"How did you get it?" she asked, noting happily that it sounded like he was calming down.

"My father bought it while he was on a business trip over there," Shutaro replied. "I mostly collect WW2 German military vehicles, but this one is much nicer."

"I remember watching you drive it around the estate," she told him. "That seems so long ago."

He swerved hard to avoid the deep crater that suddenly appeared before them. "Yeah, my parents were really irritated after I tore up the front lawn one summer. I was only allowed to use it back in the far eastern corner of the estate after that."

She smiled. "That must have happened before I was launched."

He nodded. "I guess so," he replied. "I was only about twelve, I think."

"Shutaro-san?" she asked hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know," he answered. "The smoke is starting to clear out a little, but I'm still not sure what direction we're heading."

The tank shook hard as a stray blast struck the ground nearby. Shutaro gritted his teeth and poured on the gas, pushing the tank to its top speed. After a few more moments the smoke cleared and the tank barreled across the estate unhindered.

Shutaro kept going for a couple more minutes, making sure they were in the clear before he brought the tank to a gradual stop. Throwing open the hatch, he stood up, eager to escape the stifling compartment. His joy to be out was quickly replaced by renewed fear as he caught sight of the vast tiger striped ship hanging in the sky overhead.

He gazed slowly around the estate. It appeared that they had somehow ended up on the huge lawn in front of the mansion. Every visible building was already either leveled or a blazing torch, and it appeared that most of the trees on the estate were on fire as well. The oni ship's shots where becoming more and more infrequent, and he could only guess that they were running out of things to destroy.

He heard one of the turret hatches clang open behind him.

"Shutaro-san, don't you think we should keep going?"

He glanced around at Sayomi's worried face. "Can you contact the command center?" he asked, his voice dulled from shock.

She went still for a few moments. "I'm not receiving any response," she announced hesitantly. "The only nearby chatter I'm picking up is from those pilots."

He stared at the side of the mansion that had connected to the command center. The flames and smoke were thick in that area, and he could only hope that everyone had evacuated in time. Sighing heavily, he clamored up to the top of the turret and dropped down through the other hatch. Grabbing the radio, he set it to the frequency their air force used.

"All Mendou Air Force pilots, please disengage from the target and retreat to a safe distance."

"Young master, is that you?" a grizzled voice responded incredulously. "Are you still on the estate?"

"This is Mendou Shutaro," he affirmed, watching as the remaining jets obediently swung away from the ship. "Do you know if the command center was able to evacuate?"

"We tried to bring in a couple more helicopters after that thing started firing, but they didn't make it," the pilot replied sadly. "Command went quiet a little while ago."

Shutaro bowed his head. "Ok," he replied quietly. "I'm leaving the estate now and heading into Tomobiki. As long as that thing doesn't start attacking the town, everyone needs to just hang back. I don't know if help is on the way or not, but there's nothing more we can do here."

"Roger," the pilot affirmed. "Are you sure you don't need air cover?"

"I don't think it would do any good," Shutaro replied. "Just get on out of here."

"Roger," the pilot replied.

Shutaro put the handset back on the hook and clamored slowly back out. "We're leaving," he told Sayomi. "Go ahead and seal yourself back inside."

She nodded and ducked back in, pulling the hatch shut behind her. Shutaro lowered himself carefully back down to the driver's compartment, but kept the hatch open this time. He turned the tank towards the direction of the front gate and started slowly forward. He took one last glance behind them as he reached the gate, then turned around and steered carefully into the streets outside.

* * *

Invader hadn't been this hopeful in months. The makeshift fleet was pushing steadily forward, their superior numbers overwhelming the Urusein forces at every turn. Earth was in their sight, and it appeared that their victory was only a matter of time.

"We're detecting a large number of ships approaching from the outer system," the radar officer suddenly announced. "It appears to be Urusein reinforcements."

"Damn," Invader cursed. "How many ships do they have now?"

Jirettai left the radar station and stepped forward. "Most likely we're seeing their last ditch efforts," he commented. "It looks like their throwing everything they have at us."

Invader sighed. "Has their been any more word from Earth?" he asked worriedly.

"Not a peep, boss," the communications officer responded.

The warlord turned his attention back to the battle raging before them. The Uruseins were still clustered rather thickly around Earth; apparently they had been well prepared in case something like this happened. He could only hope that Mendou hadn't been targeted already.

* * *

Shinobu watched perplexed as a lone tank rolled slowly down her now empty street. It was far from the first tank she'd seen emerge from the direction of the Mendou estate this evening, but all the rest had been larger and had rumbled through in neat columns. As it neared she was able to finally make out the driver peering out of the open front hatch.

"Shutaro-san!" she called out happily.

Shutaro slowly brought the tank to a stop, Shinobu's house being his intended destination. As he had feared, she was still there, perched neatly on the roof no less. To his surprise Inaba was sitting there next to her.

"What are you doing?" he yelled irritably. "You should get out of here."

She shook her head. "What's the use? If that thing attacks Tomobiki, we don't have a chance of escaping. If you keep going a few blocks, the streets are still pretty jammed."

Shutaro gazed down the street, seeing brake lights flashing in the distance. "Can't he get you out of here?" he asked plaintively. "Aren't you even going to try?"

"I tried to get her to leave," Inaba called down to him. "She wouldn't do it. I'm sorry, but I cannot force her."

Shutaro shook his head. "Shinobu-san, stop being an idiot," he called out to her.

A rumbling from down the street caught his attention, and as they watched a slightly larger tank slowly approached. As it drew near, a man popped up out of the turret and saluted.

"Commander Hiroshi!" Shutaro greeted him. "I'm glad to see you made it out."

"Your father had us ready to evacuate if there was a serious attack," the commander explained. "I heard from the flyboys that you were heading this way."

"What's the situation out here?" Shutaro demanded.

"It's pretty bad on the other end of town," the commander admitted. "We've got most of our infantry out there forces trying to move things along, but it's bedlam. Most of the people in Tokyo are panicking, and the roads throughout the region are at a standstill."

"What about the armored division?" Shutaro asked.

"We couldn't get very far with all these crowds," the commander explained. "I've got them spread out in a loose defensive line a couple of blocks up."

"Very good," Shutaro complemented him. "What is the self defense force doing?"

"The government's forces still won't work with us," Hiroshi replied irritably. "JSDF says that if Tokyo itself is in danger, then they'll fight, otherwise they aren't budging."

"What are they thinking?" Shutaro muttered. "Ok, go ahead and get back in position, I'll join up with your line in a moment."

"We have orders to get you to safety if anything happens," the commander firmly replied. "We're clearing out a landing spot in the park so we can get you airlifted out of the region."

"Have you heard from my father since the attack started?" Shutaro demanded.

"Not since the first few minutes," he admitted.

"Well, in the absence of my father, I'm taking command," Shutaro barked out. "Continue clearing out a landing spot and see if we can get some civilians out of here."

"Understood," the commander reluctantly agreed. "We're already evacuating citizens from the airport, but you're right, we can get a few more out that way."

"Let's get on with it then," Shutaro ordered. He looked down. "Do you know if the helicopter Ryoko and Grandfather were on escaped?"

"I believe it was going to head towards Okinawa," Hiroshi replied. "We've been busy with evacuations, so I'm not really sure about its status."

"Fine," Shutaro replied shortly. "You're dismissed." He turned back towards Shinobu's house as the other tank made its way back up the street. "Shinobu-san, are your parents still here?"

She shook her head. "I pretended I was leaving with Inaba so that they would go without me."

"I want you two behind that defensive line," Shutaro ordered. "We'll try to defend Tomobiki if it comes down to it, but you're not going to sit there in the middle of it."

She huffed, unused to Shutaro bossing her around. "I'm not leaving my house," she yelled back.

He gestured wildly towards the burning estate. "My parents didn't want to leave their home either," he retorted, his patience stretched to the limit. "For all I know, they're still in there."

Shinobu gazed in shock at the burning building. She'd spoken with Shutaro's parents on many occasions, often in that very house. "Ok," she finally relented. "I'll at least move out of this area."

He nodded. "Inaba, make sure you keep her safe."

The rabbit suited man nodded. "Ok," he promised. "Thank you."

* * *

The allied fleet was besieged on both sides, but they were still holding their own. The _Doji_ had been at the forefront of the battle for well over three hours now, continuously pushing towards Earth, even to the point of leaving their flanks vulnerable at times.

The _Lamu_, on the other hand, was keeping itself firmly in the center of the fleet. Carriers of her size were rare in the galaxy, and Invader had no intentions of losing another one. Especially not the one named in honor of his own baby girl.

Invader paced nervously on the bridge as battleship after battleship appeared in their path. Uru was putting much more of their resources into this could than he had imagined. Even if they had boosted ship production for months, their home system had to be practically defenseless by this point.

The warlord abruptly halted his pacing as a newly arrived ship was sighted and put on the main screen. "Is that what I think it is?" he demanded.

"Yes sir," the radar officer affirmed. "It's the _Izanami_."

Jirettai stepped forward, shaking his head in amazement. "What is that doing here?" he asked quietly. "I didn't think that it ever left Uru."

"She hasn't in over 600 years," Invader grimly replied. "She's supposed to be their last line of defense." He gazed at the immense battleship in awe. The _Doji_ might be the largest modern Oni battleship, but in the very distant past their race had built ships that were far larger. What those ships had lacked in numbers they had more than made up for in armor and firepower. It was said that these ships had greatly hastened Uru's resource depletion.

Now, millennia later, only the _Izanami_ was left of that mighty fleet. The rest had long ago been cannibalized to build the smaller but more efficient fleets that the oni had used to control their burgeoning empire. She might be ancient, but Invader knew that her systems had been upgraded dozens of times over the centuries.

"What are we going to do?" Jirettai asked. "That thing's over three times as our size."

"I'm well aware of that," Invader responded. He sat down in his chair and quickly called up the Fukujin commander. "Bishamonten, I assume you've noticed our latest adversary."

"We sure did," the Fukujin replied. "It's that old relic, isn't it?"

"Don't underestimate her just because she's old," Invader cautioned him. "She's nearly as maneuverable as the _Doji_, and the guns are much more powerful."

Bishamonten laughed. "No offense, Invader, but Fukujin ships are a little more advanced than yours. We can just sit outside her range and pick her apart."

Invader sighed. "If you think you can handle it, then I'll leave her to you."

* * *

Shutaro sat nervously on the edge of his tank's turret, watching the oni warship. Now that the sun was coming up, the vast ship was even more menacing to behold.

He checked his watch for the hundredth time. It was already half past six, and still there was no sign that any reinforcements from Invader were on their way. With the subspace relay gone, they had no way to know if help was coming at all.

"Are you still doing ok?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Sayomi called out from the commander's seat inside. "I'm fine."

"You just haven't said anything in awhile," he replied.

"I'm just trying to conserve energy," she explained as she carefully probed the gaping holes in her skin.

Shutaro peered in and blushed as he realized she had taken her ragged top off. "Are you sure you don't need to be looked at?" he demanded, turning his eyes quickly skywards.

"There's only a few people at the lab who would know what they were doing," Sayomi replied. "And they were evacuated yesterday along with everyone else."

"I wish you would take a helicopter out of here," Shutaro told her. "The techs will probably end up at the Okinawa base sooner or later."

"I told you before this all started that I wouldn't leave your side," she retorted. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

He sighed. "How's your battery power?"

"I've got a couple more hours if I'm fully operational," she replied. "I can always go into standby mode if it gets too low."

"What's that mean?" he inquired.

"Basically all sensory and movement functions are shut down," she explained. "Don't worry though. Even if I run completely out of power, I'll be ok. My memory doesn't require an active power source to retain my data." She gazed up at him, noting amusedly that he was pointedly looking away. "I'm glad my new skin was supposed to have been ready soon. It'll look a hundred times better than this one did."

"That one looks pretty realistic," he bashfully observed.

"The seams on this one are way too visible," she murmured as she slid her shirt back on. "With the new one it should be almost impossible to tell that it's not real skin."

He coughed nervously and carefully kept his eyes directed away. "All this waiting is driving me nuts," he admitted softly. The distant fires on the estate were still burning, and even after all this time no one had heard a word from his parents. Despite the sinking feeling in his gut, he refused to believe that they weren't just busy somewhere else.

Sayomi was quiet for a moment. "I wish there was something I could do for you," she finally said, reaching up to grasp his hand. "But it seems like all I ever do is bring you more trouble."

"If you hadn't pushed me back in the garage earlier, I wouldn't even be alive right now," he reminded her.

"And if it wasn't for me, you would have been safely on that helicopter in the first place," she replied.

"Honestly, I never intended to get on the helicopter," he admitted. "I was just going to make sure you were on board and then go back."

"Shutaro-san!" she exclaimed. "Why would you have done that?"

He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. How shameful is it for the heir of the great Mendou Clan to go running off at the first sign of trouble?"

"Then I'm glad we didn't make it to the helicopter," she grumped. "You obviously need me around to keep you from doing stupid things."

"It's not stupid," he retorted.

"Yes it is," she insisted. "You're still being stupid for staying here instead of going somewhere safer."

"You're still here too," he dryly reminded her.

"I never said that I wasn't stupid," she replied haughtily.


	27. The Fate of Tomobiki

"I tried to warn you," Invader growled.

The damaged Fukujin flagship _Takarabune_ limped slowly away from the massive _Izanami_. "I can't believe their guns have a longer range than mine," Bishamonten responded angrily. "Since when did that happen?"

"They've simply got the room to mount higher powered guns than we can," Invader replied. "It's like fighting rifles with cap guns."

"What are we going to do then?" the Fukujin commander demanded. "I know your ship doesn't have any better guns than we do."

"You're right," Invader agreed. "I never thought they'd deploy her for something like this."

"Well, she's heading this way," Jirettai spoke up. "Should we call for a retreat?"

Invader glanced irritably at his second in command. "No," he replied. "That's not an option right now." He fell silent, fruitlessly trying to remember any fatal weaknesses in the _Izanami_. She had excellent defenses against small aircraft, so Interceptors wouldn't have much luck at getting close. And their superior range would keep the larger battleships at bay.

"How about we evacuate a ship and just ram them head-on?" Bishamonten asked.

"Who's going to agree to that?" Invader demanded. "Do you want to lose one of your ships?"

"If we don't do something, we're going lose a few anyways," the Fukujin angrily replied.

"It wouldn't work anyways," Invader growled. "At close range they'd tear a ship apart before it reached them." He paused. "I already called for reinforcements from Oniboshi, but I don't know what they'll be able to do."

"You silly men never use your heads," a sultry feminine voice purred.

"This is supposed to be a private channel," Invader muttered.

Princess Kurama looked miffed as she appeared on his screen. "Please, you Oni always use such simple encryptions. Besides, we're your allies too, why are you leaving us out of your little conversation?"

"Because no one else here's ships are anywhere near as powerful as ours," Bishamonten replied, obviously annoyed. "It'd be a waste of time to ask them for help with this thing. And I don't even know why you bothered to show up with those old clunky freighters."

"You simpletons always only think in terms of how much firepower you have," Kurama retorted. "Or how fast your ships can go." She suddenly grinned. "My old clunky freighters aren't all that powerful, but they've got something you don't have.

"What's that?" Bishamonten asked dubiously.

Kurama smiled. "Without any maneuverability, won't that ship be easy pickings?" She directed their attention to a screen displaying the rear of the _Izanami_. As they watched, a series of small explosions began peppering the ship's hull.

"What did you do?" Invader demanded.

"My old clunky freighters can hold tons of one crow fighters," she giggled. "And they're far too small for most defensive weapons to target them. As we speak my darling little minions are busily placing explosive charges all over that big bad battleship."

"That's... impressive," Invader admitted. "We didn't even pick your fighters up on our radar."

"That's because you brutes don't look for anything smaller than your own interceptors," she told him snidely. "Not all races are human sized. You should remember that."

The warlord nodded as they continued to watch the tiny explosions that wracked the _Izanami_. "Believe me, I will."

* * *

The massive oni battlecruiser stirred for the first time in hours. It sounded like things weren't going well up above, but they had strict orders to stay close to the ground in case the humans tried to attack any of the other nearby installations. Standing orders also said to not attack the town, but at this point the Urusein captain figured that didn't really matter anymore.

Shutaro sighed. "It's moving this way," he called out to the private army's commander. "Tell everyone to get ready, and make sure they know that retreat isn't an option." With the roads still so congested with the fleeing masses from Tokyo, and the other surrounding towns every moment they could stall the oni might save countless lives.

He slammed the commander's hatch on his own tank, and then dropped down into the gunner's side. "It'll be slower than if we had a full crew, but I can operate the gun by myself. You just get some rest, ok?" he told Sayomi.

She nodded weakly. Her battery was getting very low, and she knew she needed to go into standby. "Shutaro, if it gets bad, I want you to leave me here," she told him quietly. "Promise me that you will."

"Not going to happen," he replied grumpily, rotating the turret just a bit more.

With a target that large there was little chance of missing, and without knowing the ship's structure one spot was as good as the next. He didn't really expect the shells to have much any effect anyways. It was be surprising if the ship even noticed them.

"If I don't wake up, please remember that I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied softly as he made the final adjustments to the gun's elevation. When there was no reply, he glanced worriedly over at her. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were tightly closed. She almost appeared to be asleep. "Don't worry," he murmured. "I won't leave you."

The last thing Sayomi felt before slipping away entirely was the jarring recoil as the first shot fired from the tank's main gun.

* * *

Those aboard the Urusein ship were caught by surprise when the _Doji_ descended upon them. The much larger flagship fired a light salvo into the top of the barely moving battlecruiser, just enough to get their attention. As Invader had hoped, the Urusein ship's immediate response was to flee the area at top speed. The warlord didn't know how much damage Tomobiki had already suffered, but he certainly didn't want to make it any worse.

They let the battlecruiser escape from Earth unmolested. There were more than enough other ships waiting nearby to ensure that their enemy wouldn't make it very far. Even if the large ship had been brought down over the ocean, it could have had very adverse affects upon the Japan.

The immediate threat to Tomobiki resolved, the Oniboshian flagship rose smoothly back into orbit and targeted the remaining Urusein installations. A precise shot into each site ensured that none of them would ever be operational again.

"Well, I guess we did it," Jirettai remarked happily as they gazed down at the planet.

Invader shook his head. "I just hope too many people didn't get hurt before we made it through," he replied. The screens showed a huge piece of land burning in one corner of Tomobiki. "Let's go ahead and send some shuttles down, see if we can't help out."

The words had no sooner left his mouth than the Seyruun commander appeared on the screen. "You wouldn't be planning to pick up where your old comrades left off, would you, Oni?"

Invader's brow furrowed. "Of course not," he growled. "We're here to help these people."

"We've been discussing the matter amongst ourselves, and we think it would be for the best if Oniboshi kept their distance from this planet. And that goes for your Fukujin stooges as well."

"What did you say?" Bishamonten demanded. "We all came here to fight for everyone's sake. How dare you question our motives."

"Please," Princess Kurama cut in. "I don't particularly like the oni any more than the rest of you do, but you're being idiots if you think they're going to try anything here."

"I've heard that you spent quite a bit of time on earth consorting with Warlord Invader's daughter," the Meiroon commander spat. "And in any case, you're hardly a trustworthy ally."

"Then maybe you will listen to my words," a calm feminine voice rang out over the open frequency. Oyuki's face soon appeared on every commander's screen.

"You're no more trustworthy in this case than the Tengu," the Meiroon commander replied angrily. "Didn't your people seek shelter with these Oni?"

"Yes, we did," Oyuki replied, carefully keeping any hint of anger out of her voice. "When my people were in danger, Oniboshi gladly welcomed and protected us."

"Who do you think it was that accepted the few who escaped the oni's last little crusade?" the Meiroonian retorted. "The poor refugees of Zephil certainly have not forgotten the deviousness of the Oni."

"And yet where were you, any of you, when this system was in the same danger?" Oyuki demanded. "Both Invader and I have been trying to make you all realize the danger posed on this planet for well over a year now." Her eyes flashed. "My people have long traded with most of the planets represented here, and our integrity has never before been questioned."

To everyone's surprise, it was the female commander from Planet Elle who spoke next.

"Princess Elle wishes for it to be known that she trusts your word, Queen Oyuki."

"I too will place my faith in your words," the Rezonian fleet's admiral rumbled. "If you say that Invader's intentions are noble, than I will trust that they are."

The Meiroonian commander stared at his close ally with surprise written clearly on his face. "Have you forgotten what kind of people they are?" he demanded.

"My suggestion," Oyuki butted in forcibly, "is that this planet be formally placed under the joint protection of the Galactic Trade Alliance. Furthermore, as an inner council member, I would like to extend an invitation to Oniboshi to join our organization. Now that they are no longer associated with Uru, I believe that they will be a valuable trading partner."

Invader blinked. "I'll have to talk to the Governor," he admitted. "But I'm pretty sure that he'll jump at the chance."

"Now hold on," the Meiroon commander interjected. "Both of your suggestions are something that the entire council has to vote on."

"I am well aware of that," Oyuki responded coolly. "My parents drafted most of the rules, after all." She shook her head slightly. "Invader, if you would not mind, would you please remain in orbit along with everyone else? The _Minokichi_ will be arriving in about a half hour, and as you are aware, we have much better medical facilities on board."

Invader nodded.

"I believe this should be an acceptable compromise for the moment." Oyuki glared around at the other commanders. "Or does anyone harbor suspicions that we Neptunians will attempt some coup once we descend?"

The Meiroon commander shook his head, unwilling to push her any further. "No, if the oni stay off the surface, that will satisfy us." The man's other close ally from Seyruun silently nodded in assent.

"I am glad that you are willing to listen to reason," Oyuki replied. "Once we have things sorted out on the surface, I would like to call an immediate meeting of the Trade Alliance. Please inform your respective representatives." She cut her communications to everyone except Invader.

Princess Kurama huffed. "I am returning home," she announced, cutting her connection to the other commanders as well.

"I do wish that she would accept an invitation to join as well," Oyuki mused to Invader, "but that is her decision."

"Thank you for mediating," he replied. "I was afraid things were going to get nasty out here."

"I believe that things will go my way when the issues come up to vote," Oyuki replied. "We may count on Rezo and Fukujin's vote, and perhaps Planet Elle's support as well."

"It would help our economy out a lot," Invader replied. "The Governor will agree to it, I'm certain of that."

"I am certain that he shall," she agreed.

* * *

Shutaro watched nervously as the huge Neptunian ship came to rest gently on what had once been his front lawn.

"That looks like Oyuki-sama's palace," Shinobu suddenly announced.

Shutaro glanced up at the couple sitting unconcernedly atop the turret of his tank. "Are you certain?" he demanded. He was well familiar with Lum's beautiful alien friend but hadn't actually ever visited her frozen home world.

"Pretty certain," she replied, peering through a pair of binoculars. "In fact, isn't that Oyuki-sama coming out?"

"I believe it is," Shutaro agreed, recognizing her unique hair color from a distance.

"She's the Neptunian Queen, right?" Inaba asked. "I've caught glimpses of her in many of your futures, but I don't believe we've ever met."

"She's always been a little overly formal, but I think she's really nice," Shinobu replied. "Lum always spoke well of her."

"Hang on, I'm taking us over there," Shutaro told them, dropping back down into the driver's compartment. He inched the tank slowly forward towards the emerging crowd and brought it to a stop nearby. Hopping out, he strode confidently up to Oyuki, followed more hesitantly by Shinobu and Inaba.

"Mendou-san, Shinobu-san," Oyuki politely greeted them. "I am glad to see that you are both safe. It has been a long time since we have met."

He nodded. "Thank you for coming, Oyuki-sama. I assume you are here with Invader-sama's forces?"

"My people have come to provide any medical assistance that you might need," Oyuki replied. "Warlord Invader-san will be staying in orbit for the moment."

Shutaro shook his head. "I'm afraid that there is not likely to be much for you to do here."

"This area was your estate, correct?" Oyuki gently inquired. "Tomobiki itself does not appear to have been seriously damaged."

"Yes, the town's fine," he replied grimly. "The estate was mostly evacuated beforehand, but we already have crews out here searching for survivors."

Oyuki nodded. "If you find anyone with injuries, please bring them here. I suspect we have much better facilities here than in your own hospitals."

Shutaro bowed low. "Thank you very much," he replied. "Please tell Invader-sama that we greatly appreciate his assistance as well."

"I will be certain to do that," she assured him. Noticing his dull expression, she hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder. "Did you lose someone close to you?"

Shutaro shook his head. "I don't know yet," he admitted quietly. "No one has been able to find my parents, and I still haven't heard from the rest of my family." He glanced regretfully across the yard to where several fire trucks were trying unsuccessfully to douse the flames still blazing throughout the ruins of the mansion. "Things are still really hectic out here."

She released him. "I am sorry to hear that. If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know."

"Thank you," he replied, bowing again. "If you'll excuse me, I need to return to overseeing the search efforts."

"Of course," she replied, staring sadly after him as he climbed back into his tank.

"I feel really bad for Shutaro-san, but I don't know what to say," Shinobu spoke up.

"There is not much that one can say at a time like this," Oyuki replied. "However, I am certain that the mere fact that you are there for him means more than you know." She bowed to them and turned back to her gathered ladies. "I would like for you to fan out into the town and see if anyone needs assistance. Alert me at once if there are any problems."

Shinobu tugged on Inaba's sleeve. "Come on, let's catch up with Shutaro-san," she told him quietly.

* * *

Sayomi awoke with a start as power returned to her body. She sat up slowly, mindful of her still damaged abdomen. She quickly noted that someone had put a fresh outfit on her while she was out. An unfamiliar cable caught her eye; tracing it back carefully she found that it was connected to her battery. She released the cable and glanced nervously around the small room, wondering where she was.

"Shutaro-san!" she exclaimed, catching sight of him dozing in a corner chair.

His eyes fluttered open as he yawned. "Hey," he greeted her sleepily. "I see you're finally awake."

"Where are we?" she asked as she lowered her legs to the floor.

"You shouldn't be up," he protested, quickly moving to intercept her. "Your leg's not fixed yet, and you don't want to pull that charging cable out."

She embraced him tightly. "I don't care, I'm just glad you're ok, Shutaro-san," she cooed. "You are ok, aren't you?"

Shutaro nodded, not looking her in the eyes. "I guess so," he replied, gently pushing her back down on the table.

She did a quick check of the time. "It's been three days?" she asked incredulously.

He nodded again and carefully sat down beside her. "Yeah, it has," he quietly affirmed. "I'm sorry it took us so long to get you up, but your spare batteries were all destroyed, and it took us a while to locate the technicians who knew about you."

She reached out and caught his hand. "You don't look good," she observed worriedly. "Did something happen?"

He kept his eyes fixed on her hand. "My parents didn't make it out," he hesitantly replied. "Their remains were found yesterday."

"Oh, Shutaro, I'm so sorry," she replied sadly, her eyes begining to tear up.

He shook his head. "It's been a rough few days," he admitted. "If Ryoko and grandfather hadn't been ok, I don't know what I would have done. Honestly, I'm still not sure what to do."

Sayomi pulled herself into a sitting position and gingerly wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm really glad you're ok, Sayomi-san," he murmured. "I've missed you so much these last few days."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," she replied, giving him a soft squeeze.

Shutaro glanced up at her mournful face. "It's not your fault," he replied quietly. "I'm just happy you're here now."

She nodded and laid her head against his shoulder, not sure what to say.

"You were wondering where we are, right?" he eventually said, trying to sound calm. "We're on our Okinawa estate. It's not nearly as nice as home was, but I hope you'll be happy here."

"As long as you're with me, I don't care," she replied earnestly. "Is Ryoko and your grandfather here too?"

"For the moment," Shutaro answered quietly.

"How badly damaged is Tomobiki?" she inquired.

"There's not much left of our estate," he replied. "But the town itself is ok, Invader-sama drove them off before they did much damage."

"What are you going to do now?" she asked tentatively.

"My parents funeral will be tomorrow," he replied, skirting the question. "I would appreciate it if you would come with me."

"Of course I will," she quickly replied.

"Thank you," he told her sincerely. He stared at the floor for a moment. "After that, I'm not sure what's going to happen. Grandfather is afraid that if I don't go ahead and take my father's place, the board of directors is going to use this opportunity to try to wrest control of the company away from the family. My father set things up where that shouldn't happen, but I do need to start trying to get things in order pretty soon."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sayomi asked.

Shutaro shook his head. "I don't know right now," he replied. "I've already dropped my classes for this semester, and I've had some of my father's assistants going over things with me. I've been preparing to get involved with the company sooner or later anyways."

They sat in silence for a few minutes until a knock sounded on the door.

"That'll be some old friends of yours," Shutaro explained apologetically, hopping down to the floor. "I'm going to leave you in their care, but I won't be far away if you need anything."

He opened the door, letting a team of technicians inside. "Please take good care of her," he requested as he left the room.

She stared after him for a moment before turning her attention to the technicians surrounding her.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake," one told her. "The young master insisted on staying with you until you regained consciousness."

"I'm sorry that I'm so much trouble," she replied sadly as they began helping to remove her clothes.

"Don't worry about it," another technician told her. "We'll have you all fixed up in no time."

"Even my skin?" she asked hopefully.

"It's going to be a bit longer on that," he regretfully informed her. "The company making the new one said that it wasn't ready yet."

She sighed. "Alright. How about my battery then?"

"We're working on getting a couple of spares built," he replied. "The young master wanted you awake as soon as possible though, so that's why we're recharging you like this."

Sayomi sadly shook her head. "Poor Shutaro-san. I don't know what to say to him. He's lost so much these past few days."

The technician smiled. "The young master already looked better than he did earlier. Just be there for him, and he'll be ok. He's a tough one, just like his old man was."

She nodded. "I hope you're right."

* * *

The technicians had been working on Sayomi for a few minutes when the door creaked open and Ryoko stepped in. "Big brother said that you were awake," she explained as she settled down in the chair. I thought I would come keep you company for a bit."

"Thank you," Sayomi replied distractedly as she watched the technicians work on removing part of her lower leg. "I guess Shutaro-san didn't want to see me like this."

"He was too embarrassed to stay in the room when I changed your clothes," Ryoko remarked quietly. "I think this would definitely freak him out."

"I suppose so," Sayomi agreed. "How are you doing, Ryoko-chan?"

Ryoko sighed. "Not great," she admitted. "But I'm managing. I've been more worried about big brother. He's trying so hard to be strong, but I know he's hurting too."

"I'm really glad you're ok," Sayomi replied. "We didn't know if your helicopter had made it."

Ryoko nodded and looked away, trying hard to keep her composure. "I wanted them to stay longer, even after the mansion got hit, but the pilot took off."

"The way things were, that was for the best," Sayomi told her. "It got really bad right after that."

"That's what Shutaro said," Ryoko replied, wiping at her eyes. "But it's still really hard. Do you think they could have made it if we had stayed a little longer?"

Sayomi firmly shook her head. "The house was falling down around us," she replied. "And your parents weren't going to leave until everyone was out of the area."

"Big brother said that too," Ryoko replied wearily. "Thank you though. I wasn't sure if he was just saying that to make me feel better." She gave Sayomi a weak smile. "Thank you for staying with Shutaro. I doubt he would be here if you hadn't."

"I didn't really do anything," Sayomi protested. "He's the one who got us out of there."

"He told me how you got so banged up," Ryoko gently replied. "That does look pretty bad, you know."

"I know it does," Sayomi sighed. "Is my face at least ok?"

"It's a little bit burnt in a few spots," one of the technicians admitted.

She brought a hand up to her face, gingerly running her fingers over the damaged areas. "I must look horrible. I wish Shutaro-san hadn't seen me like this."

"He was just really worried about you waking up," Ryoko replied. "I don't think he cared about how you looked."

Sayomi's thoughts drifted back to when she had awoken in the garage. Shutaro hadn't looked disgusted, only shocked and concerned.

"Anyways," Ryoko continued, "it won't be too much longer until you're good as new again."

"Thank you, Ryoko-chan," Sayomi replied. "I really appreciate everything you guys have done for me."

"I think you've more than paid me back," Ryoko replied with smile.


	28. Lum's Growling

Ataru glanced up as Lum reclaimed her seat next to him on the couch. "What did your mother say?" he asked curiously.

"She said dad should be coming home tomorrow," Lum responded cheerfully. "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, it really is," Ataru replied, turning his attention back to the television. "Seems like things might finally get back to normal, doesn't it?"

"Mostly," Lum agreed. "I'm glad that everyone won't be unable to travel anymore. And Oyuki mentioned that she's going to start preparing to return to Neptune as well."

He nodded but didn't take his eyes off the screen. "It's kind of weird seeing Tomobiki like this."

"I know what you mean," Lum replied. "It's hard to believe the town we lived in is being shown all over the galaxy."

"Everything looks pretty much the same," he commented, watching as the camera panned across the town. "I bet it won't stay that way for long though."

"We only left about a year and a half ago, Darling," Lum reminded him. "How much did you think had changed?"

"It seems like a lot longer than that," he replied.

"I suppose so," she admitted.

They fell quiet as quick footage was shown of the ruined Mendou estate before the report started discussing the expected changes in the Galactic Trade Alliance.

"It's really horrible what happened to Mendou," Ataru finally spoke up. "I wouldn't ever have wished that on him, no matter what he did."

"His father was really nice," Lum commented. "And poor Shutaro-san and Ryoko-chan. This must be devastating for them."

"I can imagine," he somberly agreed, remembering back to when he hadn't known his own parents' fate. "I guess they'll be remembered as heroes for what they did."

"They should be," she replied. "If his parents hadn't attacked the Uruseins, intergalactic traffic would still be under their control."

"Still, that's probably not very consoling to Mendou," he mused. "Maybe after you can travel again we should go see him."

"You actually want to visit Shutaro-san?" Lum asked incredulously. "Are you feeling alright?"

Ataru scowled. "I'm not heartless," he protested. "He was our classmate, no matter how much he was a pain to be around."

She smiled. "You'll never admit that you two were friends, will you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he retorted.

"Whatever you say, Darling," she surrendered. "It would be nice to see everyone again. I wonder how Shinobu-chan is doing."

"She's probably still head over heels for that Inaba guy," Ataru remarked.

"Jealous, Darling?" Lum asked.

"I have no reason to be," he replied. "Life's been pretty good to me lately."

She smiled. "Are you really happy, Darling?"

"You know I am," he replied more seriously. "But ask me again after I've had to deal with a screaming brat for a couple of months."

"That's terrible," she replied, slapping him lightly on the arm.

Ataru grinned. "It's been a long time since you've told me that I'm terrible."

She crossed her arms and looked away. "That's because you've mostly been behaving."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Ataru replied noncommittally. "I haven't wanted to get you too stirred up in your condition."

"Is that the only reason you've been so nice to me?" Lum pouted.

"Sure is," he replied, keeping a serious expression on his face.

She looked down and frowned, knowing that her sad expression would soon break him.

Ataru chuckled. "You're not going to win this time."

Lum didn't reply, but instead just looked more hurt.

"Oh stop that," he finally admonished her. "You know how I feel about you."

"Say it," she requested.

"I love you," he muttered. "Even though you're a real pain sometimes."

"You're such a sweetheart," she sarcastically retorted. She glanced pointedly down at her swollen belly. "I hope she doesn't turn out like you did."

"Keiko, don't listen to mommy," Ataru bent over and whispered. "She's just mad because she can't tame us free spirits."

"You know, if she's like you, she'll be chasing boys constantly. Are you sure you're ok with that?" Lum inquired.

Ataru scowled. "If that's what she wants to do, then I'm not going to stand in her way."

"Well, I'm going to make sure that she grows up to be a respectable woman," Lum promised. "The same way I finally got you to stop being such a weirdo."

He grumbled something incoherent and looked away.

Lum giggled. "In a lot of ways, you haven't changed since the day I met you," she observed.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he retorted.

She shook her head. "You would," she replied.

Ataru grinned as he pushed himself up off the couch. "I think I'm ready to hit the sack," he announced. "Would you care to join me?"

She rose unsteadily off the couch. "Sure," she answered. "I am feeling a bit sleepy."

Ataru smiled as he switched off the news. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm fine," she responded as she carefully walked made her way towards the bedroom.

Ataru followed close behind. "You're too stubborn," he remarked.

"I'm not being stubborn," she insisted. "If I need help, I'll tell you."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.

"You can help me into bed," she told him, hiding a smile. He could get annoying, but she knew Darling enjoyed feeling useful.

"Sure," he replied, moving over quickly to steady her as she climbed in. Once she was comfortable he crossed over and settled in beside her.

"Thank you, Darling," she told him earnestly. "I appreciate all that you do for me."

"I know you do," he replied sleepily. "Good night, Lum."

"Good night, my Darling," she told him with a smile. Closing her eyes, it wasn't long before she was asleep.

* * *

"Darling, come on, wake up," Lum insisted.

"What?" he murmured sleepily. "It's not morning yet is it?"

"No, we need to get ready to go to the hospital," she replied. "I'm having contractions."

"Are you sure this time?" he asked.

"Yes, Darling, I'm quite sure," she replied impatiently. "I didn't wake you up until I was certain."

Ataru raised his head. "How far apart are they?" he inquired urgently.

"About every five minutes or so" she replied.

He sat up and stared at her for a moment, his mind racing. "We need to call your mother," he finally decided.

"Get dressed first," she chided him as he rolled out of bed and started towards the door. "Unless you want her to see you in boxers."

He shook his head. "That's a good idea," he replied nervously, grabbing up his clothes from the day before. He quickly pulled them on and rushed out, managing to smack his knee on the doorway in the process.

Lum shook her head. Darling was probably going to be a nervous wreck the rest of the day. It was a good thing her mother had offered to drive them when the time came.

A few minutes later he rushed back into the room, not looking any calmer. "Ok, your mother is on her way, I think," he replied. "And our bags are already waiting in the other room." He frowned and kneeled down beside the bed. "Do you need anything right now?"

"If you could help me to the bathroom, I'd appreciate it," she replied.

He helped her up and into the bathroom, not getting the hint to leave until she gave him a pointed glare. Even after that he hovered right outside, waiting nervously for her to finish.

"You should try to calm down, Darling," she told him firmly through the door. "There's no reason to be so nervous. Everything's going fine."

"I know," he sighed. "I can't help it though."

"Well, you're going to start getting on my nerves, so try harder," she told him bluntly.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, his nervousness giving way to irritation.

A couple of minutes later Lum peeked out at him. "Get me some clothes," she ordered.

Ataru went over the closet and started rummaging. "What do you want to wear?" he asked worriedly.

"That vertically striped dress is fine," she replied. "No, not that one, the one that still fits."

"This one?" he asked tentatively, holding up one of the many tiger striped dresses in her wardrobe.

"That's the one," she confirmed. Grab me some underwear too."

He quickly gathered up the requested items and passed them in to her. "Do you need any help getting dressed?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine," she calmly replied, trying hard not to let it show when another contraction hit. If he knew she was in pain he was just going to get more nervous. "Did you already call Doctor Hakushi?" she asked him.

"No, but I'll go do that right now," he replied, thankfully leaving her to get dressed in peace.

* * *

"Did I make it in time?" Invader roared as he stomped into the waiting room.

"_She's still in labor_," his wife replied irritably. "_Now lower your voice and sit down_."

"Still?" Invader asked incredulously as he settled down next to her. "How long does it take?"

She shrugged. "_You know that it varies_."

"Well, at least I'm not late then," he replied. "I had to really push everyone to get back this early."

"_I'm sure Lum will appreciate it, dear_," she replied, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek. "_So I take it everything is still going well out_?"

"Pretty well," Invader agreed. "Governor Kakari is definitely going to accept the invitation to join the Trade Alliance. All that's left is a few formalities now."

"_That's great_!" she replied. "_What about Earth?"_

"It's going to be well protected," Invader assured her. "They've worked out a rotating shift of ships to patrol the area, and they're building an embassy outside Tomobiki as well. Between all that no one will be able to do anything without everyone else finding out immediately."

Kinuko nodded. "_Are our ships going to be included in this_?"

"As soon as we're officially a member," Invader confirmed. "It will just be a couple of battleships being rotated in every few months, so our defenses here will be fine."

"_Sounds like a well thought out plan_," she replied. "_Was Oyuki-chan the one who suggested it_?"

"Yeah, she's really had everyone dancing like puppets," the warlord replied. "I'm glad she likes us so much."

His wife stifled a giggle.

Invader looked over at the silent Moroboshis. "This all must be welcome news to your ears," he remarked.

Mrs. Moroboshi nodded. "Yes, we're both really glad things are turning out so well."

"Do you have any plans to return to Earth?" Invader demanded.

Mr. Moroboshi shook his head. "We've discussed it already. It's a little tempting, but things have worked out really well here. I'd hate to give up my nice position here and go back to that daily drudge back in Tomobiki."

"_I'm glad to hear that_," Kinuko replied. "_It's been rather nice to be able to see you two so often_."

Invader nodded. "I'm glad you like that job," he chuckled. "We'll have to go out drinking again soon." He thought for a moment. "It's too bad your son doesn't drink, or he could join us."

"Ataru's already enough trouble without you two getting him drunk," Mrs. Moroboshi replied sternly. She turned her attention towards the door. "I hope he's not causing trouble in there right now."

"I'm sure he's doing just fine," her husband assured her.

* * *

Ataru frowned. "How are you doing, Lum?"

"How do you think I'm doing?" she demanded. "Why are you sitting so far away?"

He gave her a pointed look before giving her outstretched hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll scoot back over if you promise to stop biting."

She squeezed his hand hard as another painful contraction washed over her. "Fine," she ground out. "Just get back over here."

He quickly moved his seat closer to the side of the bed. "Do you need another drink?" he offered.

Lum nodded and sipped thirstily from the offered cup.

"I know it hurts, but you're doing fine." Ataru told her, wiping the sweat from her brow. He glanced anxiously up at the doctor. "Isn't she?"

"Everything's proceeding smoothly," Dr. Hakushi assured them. "From the timing of your contractions, Lum, it shouldn't be too much longer."

"Good," Lum replied. "This is getting old really fast."

"Just remember how much we've went through just to get this far," he gently told her. "And I'm here for you."

She shot him a glare. "You're just worried that I'm going to bite you again."

He grinned nervously. "Are you?"

"I'll try not to," she replied, wincing as another wave of pain began. Mercifully it soon passed. "Your arm's bleeding a little," she observed worriedly once it was over.

He dabbed at the trickle with his sleeve. "That's ok," he replied. "You just snagged me with one of your fangs a few minutes ago."

"Sorry," Lum apologized ruefully. "I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't," he replied. There was no doubt that she had meant to bite him, so he could only assume she hadn't meant to break the skin. "But don't worry about that. You need to concentrate on breathing during your contractions."

"It's not helping much," she griped.

"If it helps just a little, then isn't it worth it?" he insisted.

"It helps more to bite," Lum growled.

Ataru sighed and held his arm out. "Bite away then," he replied.

"Don't let her bite you," the nurse scolded. "She might do some real damage. Plus that's very unsanitary."

Lum shook her head. "I'm not going to bite you again," she assured him after the pain had passed.

"I think you should go ahead and start pushing now," Dr. Hakushi abruptly announced. "Just try to work along with the contractions."

"This is it, honey," Ataru replied. "Just a little bit left to go."

"Easy for you to say," Lum gritted out.

* * *

"_Dear, why don't you stop pacing and come sit down_?" Kinuko gently asked her husband.

"I can't help it," Invader growled. "My nerves are shot. I don't know how you can just sit there calmly while our little girl's in there."

"_Because I know she's fine_," his wife replied. "_Her doctor's very experienced and she's got Ataru in there for support_."

"I know," the warlord replied. "But I'm still jittery." He turned to the Moroboshis. "How are you guys staying so calm?"

Mrs. Moroboshi looked up. "I'm sure everything's fine," she assured him. "Lum's a hardy girl."

The oversized oni settled back down nervously in his seat. "She's still my baby girl to me. And I haven't gotten to see her much lately, and we had all those arguments back when she had her horns removed."

"_Dear, calm down_," Kinuko told him firmly. "_She's just fine, and she knows that you were just worried about her. She accepted your apology a long time ago_."

Invader sighed heavily. "I wasn't this nervous when we were facing the _Izanami_," he remarked.

"_That just means you're a good father_," his wife replied.

* * *

The moment their baby cried out for the first time was a moment that Lum knew she would never forget. She squeezed Ataru's hand much more gently than she had been squeezing it a few seconds prior. He didn't respond, and she noted somewhat worriedly that he had a dazed look on his face. Happily it quickly transformed to his usual wide grin the second he caught a brief glimpse of his daughter in the nurse's arms.

"Congratulations, you've got a very beautiful little girl here," Dr. Hakushi announced cheerfully as she took the swaddled infant from the nurse who had cleaned her up. "I'm happy to say that she appears perfectly healthy." She stepped over to the pair so that they could take a closer look. "We do need to run some routine tests on her," she continued, "but I assume you'll want to hold her for a bit first."

Lum nodded eagerly and held out her arms. The doctor carefully placed the tiny infant in her mother's arms and stepped back to let the weary parents meet their daughter.

"Hello, little Keiko," Ataru whispered, seemingly awestruck. "You're so tiny."

"You didn't feel like you were all that tiny a minute ago," Lum mused happily as she tenderly cuddled the whimpering newborn close to her chest. "She is beautiful, isn't she, Darling?"

He mutely nodded, watching in amazement as his daughter twisted her head towards him. After a moment her swollen eyelids opened for the first time, and her unfocused eyes gazed at him briefly before she turned away.

"She's got blue eyes, just like yours" Ataru observed. He looked up at the doctor. "Do you think they'll stay that way?"

Dr. Hakushi shrugged. "I'm afraid that I have no idea," she replied. "Don't forget, your daughter is a rather unique case."

He nodded and excitably turned his attention back to Keiko. "I hope they do," he admitted. "I've always loved your eyes, Lum."

Lum smiled. "Thank you, Darling," she replied as she studied the infant's features. "I think she has your cute nose though."

"You think?" he asked, inspecting the infant's face more closely. "I think she still looks more like you though." He gently ran a finger over his daughter's fuzzy scalp. "She doesn't have any horns though."

"Thankfully, we aren't born with horns," Doctor Hakushi explained. "We won't know if she'll have any for a few days."

Lum suppressed a shudder at the mere thought.

After a few minutes of watching, Ataru finally built up his courage. "Could I hold her for a minute?" he asked tentatively.

Lum's expression grew worried, but she reluctantly nodded. "Don't drop her," Lum warned as he carefully scooped the precious bundle into his arms.

"I'm not going to drop her," he muttered as he settled back in his seat. "She doesn't weigh much, does she?"

"No, she doesn't," Lum agreed, resisting the sudden urge to reclaim her infant. She knew Darling deserved the chance to hold Keiko, and he was being extremely careful, but she couldn't help but feel tense and uneasy. As the seconds ticked by the feeling grew stronger and stronger as she focused all of her attention on her daughter.

"Lum, you need to control your instincts," Dr. Hakushi spoke up. "Your husband isn't going to hurt her."

Lum blinked as she tore her gaze away and glanced up at the doctor. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently. Turning back, she was distressed to see Ataru shrink away from her. "What's wrong, Darling?" she asked.

"You probably don't realize it, but you were just growling and baring your teeth at him a second ago," the doctor explained as she came around on the other side of the bed from Ataru.

Lum looked confused. "I was?" she asked hesitantly.

Ataru, huddled protectively over their daughter, didn't reply.

"I guess I should have warned you," Dr. Hakushi continued. "I don't know how it is on Earth, but Oni mothers tend to be very territorial and aggressive around their young."

Ataru shot Lum a hurt look. "But I'm her daddy," he murmured. "You don't trust me with her?"

"Your wife will simply have to get used to you holding her," the doctor explained. "Lum, you need to try to stay conscious of your reactions until you don't see him as a threat anymore."

"I'm sorry, Darling," Lum told him earnestly as she made an effort to subdue the tense feelings that were quickly returning. "I really didn't mean to. I just felt really stressed out all the sudden."

He shook his head. "It's fine," he replied, not looking her in the eyes. "Maybe you should just hold her if it's upsetting you that much."

She forced herself not to snatch her daughter away from him. "No, I'm ok," she insisted, shaking her head nervously.

"You should keep holding her," the doctor advised. "And don't take it personally. Lum can't control what she's feeling, even though she obviously trusts you a lot. It's just how we are." She tapped Lum on the head. "Close your mouth," she scolded.

Lum clamped her teeth together. "I'm sorry, Darling," she apologized again, unaware that she was still glaring at him.

Ataru nodded but kept his eyes on the quiet infant in his arms. It wasn't long before he heard the low rumbling in Lum's throat start up again. Just like the previous time Keiko immediately grew quiet and clutched tightly at her blanket. A mixture of concern and irritation crossed Ataru's features as he carefully gathered the blanket back around his daughter and offered her back to Lum.

Despite herself, Lum immediately snatched the bundle from his hands and held the infant close.

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to go tell everyone the good news," Ataru announced as he nervously backed away.

Lum bit her lip. "Darling, you don't have to leave."

"It's fine," he replied, looking away. "You've been through a lot today, and it's probably not good for you to get so worked up." Turning away, he quickly left the room.

"I can't believe I did that," Lum whispered, trying not to cry. "I know it really hurt his feelings. He thinks I don't trust him at all now."

Dr. Hakushi shook her head. "His people must not react the same way at all," she mused. "I'm sorry. If I'd known that, I would have tried to prepare him for this."

* * *

Ataru entered the waiting room with a gloomy expression, much to the concern of their anxious parents.

"What's wrong?" Invader demanded as he jumped to his feet. "Did something happen?"

Ataru shook his head and tried to grin. "No, everything's fine. Both of them are just fine," he replied as he sunk down in the empty seat beside his mother. "The doctor said Keiko looks healthy, and you wouldn't believe how cute she is."

Lum's mother stared curiously at him for a moment, then abruptly rose up and flew towards her daughter's room.

"So Lum's ok?" Invader insisted. "There weren't any problems?"

Ataru shook his head. "No, everything went perfectly."

Invader nodded, but still appeared nervous. "You scared the hell out of me, Son-in-Law," he muttered.

"I guess I'm officially a grandmother now," his mother groaned. "I feel so old."

"When can we see her?" his father shyly asked.

"I don't know yet," Ataru replied. "They said they were going to have to run some tests on her soon, and I have no idea how long that will take."

"When you were born I believe it took about an hour," his mother replied.

The room fell quiet, Ataru's badly hidden mood perplexing both Invader and his parents.

A few minutes passed before Lum's mother returned, smiling happily as she strolled back into the waiting room.

"_She's so cute_!" she squealed to Invader. "_You'll have to see her whenever they allow visitors_."

"I can't wait to," Invader replied heartily.

"_They just took her in to get her shots and tests done, but I got to at least see her_," Kinuko continued. "_I do need to talk to Ataru about something though_," she explained. "_I'll be back in a moment_."

"Ok," Invader replied, looking slightly perplexed.

She glanced at Ataru and gestured for him to follow her. He looked nervous, but got up and slowly followed.

"I heard what happened," Kinuko told him, switching to Japanese. "You were upset because Lum was growling at you, correct?"

"The doctor said she couldn't help it," Ataru replied glumly. "I've seen Lum get really mad at me before, but she's never looked at me like that."

"It isn't anything to do with you," she responded. "All oni mothers are like that, and it's something that passes as time goes on. I did the same thing to my husband whenever he held Lum. But he would just ignore me, and eventually I stopped feeling that way."

She smiled and pointed at her forearm. Looking closer Ataru noticed a familiar set of deep tooth marks marring her skin.

"Lum bit you?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, when I had to get Keiko away from Lum for the doctor," Kinuko admitted. "She didn't try to bite you though, did she?"

"Not since earlier when she was in labor," Ataru replied.

"That means Lum already trusts you more than anyone else," Kinuko explained. "Otherwise she would have at least nipped at you."

"I don't know about that. It seemed like I was just stressing both of them out really bad," he commented.

"It's stressing Lum out a lot more that she upset you," Kinuko replied. "Keiko will be fine. It doesn't seem to scare infants when their mother growls, it just tells them that they need to stay quiet."

"So I just have to ignore Lum looking like she wants to kill me every time I hold my daughter?" Ataru demanded.

"Pretty much," she agreed. "It doesn't really bother oni fathers much. They're wired to expect it." She stopped in front of Lum's room. "Now please, go back in there and try to cheer Lum up. She was crying when I left."

"It seems like I'm upsetting her no matter what I do," he muttered irritably.

"Just be firm and disregard how she looks at you," Kinuko replied. "The sooner she gets comfortable with you holding Keiko, the sooner she'll stop. I've noticed that you're both really stubborn when you want to be, so use that to your advantage."

"I'll try," he promised hesitantly. It was easy to be stubborn when Lum was just angry, but when she was truly upset it was much harder.

"She's really nervous because Keiko's gone," Lum's mother warned him as she opened the door. "So make sure to be nice and supportive."

"I will," he replied.

* * *

Lum, her face streaked with tears, glanced up as Ataru appeared in the doorway. "Please don't leave again, Darling," she pleaded. "I'm really sorry that I acted like that."

"_It's not your fault, dear_," her mother assured her. She nudged Ataru forward into the room and closed the door, leaving the two alone.

He looked around nervously. "How are you feeling?" he asked tentatively.

Lum looked down at her sheets. "Awful," she admitted. "I didn't know I was going to be like this."

Ataru sighed and sat down next to her. "Keiko sure is cute, isn't she?" he asked in a more confidant tone.

"She's beautiful," Lum quietly replied as she fidgeted with her hands. She glanced towards the door. "Do you think she's ok out there?"

"I'm sure she's just fine," he assured her.

"I wish I could have went with them," she replied. "But I don't know if I could have handled watching them with her." She sighed. "I still can't believe she's finally here."

"I can't either," he agreed. "All of this just seems a little unreal."

"Darling, you know I love you, and I trust you completely, right?" Lum abruptly asked. "I know I must seem like a total bitch right now, but I swear that it's not on purpose."

"I know," he responded. "I just didn't expect this."

"I didn't either," she admitted. "I mean, I've heard about how new mothers are, but I didn't think I would be like that around you."

"I wouldn't hurt her for anything in the world," Ataru promised.

"I know that," she moaned. "It's not a rational kind of thing."

He nodded. "Well, I've ignored you being moody for the last few months, so I guess I can deal with this."

"Thank you, Darling. You have no idea how much I appreciate how considerate you are," she sniffled. "I love you so very much."

"Now don't start crying again," he weakly protested. He reached out and snatched her hands between his own. "I don't like to see you upset."

"I'm going to try really hard to stop this," she earnestly promised. "Just tell me if I'm looking at you like that, I really can't even tell that I'm doing it."

"Alright," he replied. "Now I want you to cheer up." He forced a silly grin. "You're a mommy now."

She pulled one of her hands away and wiped furtively at her eyes. "I know," she replied. "I feel really sad right now, but I'm so very happy at the same time."

"Don't feel sad," Ataru told her gently. "I was a little freaked earlier, but I know what to expect now. I'm not mad at you or anything."

She looked up at his face. "I know you're not mad, and that just makes it worse," she admitted.

"It's ok," he murmured, sweeping her hair back out of her eyes. "I love you, Lum."

"I love you too," she whispered. "You don't know how happy you make me feel just by being here."

* * *

Doctor Hakushi was pleased to find the two were back together when she brought their daughter into the room. Lum immediately began snarling at her, but the experienced doctor ignored here and calmly handed the infant to Ataru.

"You see, Lum has a much stronger reaction to those that she doesn't know as well," the doctor explained as she backed away. "Sometimes new mothers get quite violent, so we've found it safer to have the father act as a go between." She shot him a disapproving look. "I'm glad her mother came in so that I didn't have to try and take Keiko away from her myself."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't know that."

The doctor nodded. "I understand. I'm going to let you two have some alone time with her, so just let us know if you need anything." She smiled and stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Lum was still growling, but the sound was now much less violent. Ataru glanced up at her worriedly, but decided that if he surrendered now they were never going to get anywhere.

"Lum," he said gently, looking her in the eyes, "She's safe and sound right now."

The growling stopped for a moment as Lum nodded. "I know," she replied weakly. Despite her best efforts the growling soon resumed.

"Does it help when we talk?"

"Yes," Lum admitted. "I kind of lose focus when you're quiet."

"I heard you bit your mother," he commented.

She blushed. "I can't believe I did that. I was mortified, but she just shrugged it off."

"She said it was a good sign that you aren't trying to bite me," Ataru continued.

"I haven't, have I?" she realized. "That's kind of weird. I've bitten you a million times before."

He smiled. "Yes, yes you have."

"Sorry," she replied. "I'll try to cut down on that."

He shook his head. "I usually deserve it, I guess," he admitted. "And it's still a lot better than those damned zaps were."

"I'm a pretty crappy wife," she sighed.

"No, you're not," he replied more quietly. It appeared Keiko was starting to drift off. "As I said, I usually deserved it."

"Well, sometimes you did," Lum agreed, lowering her voice as well. "She's asleep, isn't she?"

"Looks like it," he replied, glancing up at her face. "How are you doing?"

"I want to hold her really bad," Lum admitted. "And I feel really tense still. But you're right, talking does help."

"That's good," he replied. Lum still didn't look friendly, but at least she wasn't glaring daggers at him anymore. "I always thought you acted motherly towards Jariten, but this is a lot different, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it really is," she replied thoughtfully. "As soon as the doctor put her in my arms, I just got this feeling like I never wanted to let her go."

"I know what you mean," he replied with a grin. "I think Keiko was a really good name for her."

"I do too," Lum agreed, still not taking her eyes off them. "I'm glad you suggested it."

After a few minutes, Keiko started to stir restlessly. "Here," Ataru said, carefully handing her to his wife "I think she'd be more comfortable with you."

"Thank you, Darling," she replied.

He noted that Lum seemed to relax the instant Keiko was back in her arms. "Feeling better now?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, I feel a bit relieved for some reason," she admitted. "But I didn't feel as panicked as I did the last time you were holding her."

He nodded. "At least we're making some progress then."

"I think so," she agreed. "Do you think she'll be this quiet all the time?"

"I really doubt it," he replied dubiously. "But this is nice."

"Yeah, it is," Lum replied. "It'd be nicer if we were home though. I'm already sick of this room."

"I need to finish putting her crib together tomorrow night," he mused. "I thought we'd have a few more days."

"I did too, but I'm glad to have that over with."

Ataru stifled a yawn. "It would have been really nice if she could have waited until we'd at least gotten a few more hours of sleep."


	29. Going Home

Keiko was crying again.

Ataru begrudgingly rolled over. "Lum, it's your turn to get up," he groaned.

"I think it's your turn," she murmured. "I'm pretty sure of it."

Ataru grumbled for a minute longer, but finally pushed himself out of bed. "I'm coming," he grouched as he stumbled towards the crib. "Just hold on a second."

Lum smiled and snuggled up to her pillow. Luckily Darling was rarely awake enough to remember whose turn it really was.

Ataru turned on the light he had installed near the crib, wondering for the millionth time what they were going to do when Keiko was old enough to need her own room. Even if they saved for ten years, there was no way they were going to be able to afford a bigger ship.

"Ok, what's the problem this time?" he asked sleepily as he lifted her up.

Keiko, as usual, didn't answer, though the urgency of her crying did lessen a bit.

He was slightly disappointed to discover that she didn't need her diaper changed. Though that was a less pleasant chore, feeding her would take longer. Shrugging, he placed her back in the crib, then stumbled into the kitchen and retrieved a bottle from the fridge.

He was about to start heating it when Lum peeked in cradling a still fussy Keiko.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I was trying to hurry."

"Don't worry about it," she replied with a yawn. "Why don't you go back to bed? I'll just nurse her." She sat down on the couch while Ataru put the milk away.

"Maybe we should put her crib out here," Ataru suggested as he carefully settled down next to her. "It doesn't do us much good to take turns if you keep getting up anyways."

"I like to keep her close," Lum quietly replied. "And I don't mind it that much."

"Whatever you say," he replied with a shrug.

"Go back to bed, Darling," she insisted. "You've got a job scheduled in about three hours."

"I know," he replied, holding back another yawn. "I just feel bad that you're up."

"I think it was actually my turn to get up," she admitted.

"I know it was," he replied. "You've done this before."

"I have?" she asked nervously. "Why don't you ever say anything?"

"Because I know you only do it when you're really worn out," he replied sleepily. "Plus you tend to get up anyways if it's not something quick."

She shot him a guilty look. "I'll try to stop doing that," she promised.

By the time Keiko was done, Ataru was already fast asleep. Lum looked at him for a moment, wondering if it would be better to just let him sleep there. Darling looked comfortable enough, and she knew from experience that he could sleep almost anywhere without getting sore. Plus he appeared to be pretty content, judging from his snores.

She sighed and leaned up against his side. The last month and a half had been exhausting for both of them, but he was still trying to do more than his share. She wished she could help with work, but she couldn't leave Keiko alone.

Lum smiled down at their drowsy daughter and gently shifted her into a more comfortable position. She had to suppress an urge to giggle when Keiko looked up at her with an irritable expression that was highly reminiscent of Darling's. Hoping that Keiko wouldn't start crying again, Lum lightly scratched the scalp around the infant's tiny horns, which usually seem to sooth her. Sure enough Keiko quickly nodded off.

Lum carefully rested her head on Ataru's shoulder and closed her eyes. She was still fairly tired, but for some reason she wasn't nodding off. Perhaps it was guilt. Darling was being so great, and she really didn't know what to do to make it up to him. He had been amazingly patient with her. Even during the nearly two weeks it had taken for her to feel completely comfortable with him holding Keiko he had taken it more or less in stride.

* * *

"Darling?" Lum asked tentatively.

Ataru glanced up from his dinner. "What is it?"

"You remember how we've talked about taking a trip to Earth?" she inquired.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Why don't we go ahead and do that tomorrow?" she suggested. "We haven't got anything scheduled for the next couple days, and we haven't really done anything fun in a while."

"You think that's a good idea right now?" he asked cautiously.

"It won't take too much fuel," she replied. "And we can probably bum a meal or two off someone when we get there. So how about it? I know you've wanted to see Tomobiki again."

"What about Keiko?" he reminded her. "She hasn't been immunized against any human diseases. I don't want her getting sick."

Lum shook her head. "I thought we could get her vaccinated while we were there," she replied. "I already talked to the doctor and she said that we should probably do that before she gets much older if we ever planned to take her there later in life."

"I wonder how much that'll cost," he mused worriedly.

"Probably not that much," she replied. "And your mother told me that if we visited we could use her savings, since they're not going to need it."

Ataru thought it over for a moment. He had been curious to see what was going on in his hometown, especially since he had heard that they had started construction on that Trade Alliance base nearby. "I guess we could," he replied slowly. "And we could somewhat pay mom back if we grabbed a few things from the house. Assuming no one's cleaned it out yet."

"Oh Darling, this is going to be so much fun!" Lum exclaimed.

He nodded. "It's been so long. I wonder if all of our classmates still live around there."

"I guess we'll find out," she replied. "I can't wait."

Ataru smiled, happy to see her so excited. The change of pace would probably be good for both of them. Between Lum's pregnancy and needing to take care of Keiko, it had been a long time since they had done anything fun.

"I'm going to see if Ran and Benten might be interested in going too," Lum spoke up. "If that's alright with you."

"I don't care, as long as they don't want a ride," he replied. As lightly as Keiko usually slept, either of the boisterous girls would likely turn the trip into a nonstop crying fest. The two of them together would likely make it unbearable.

She nodded. "I don't think Keiko would appreciate that."

* * *

They set out early the next morning. Thankfully the trip was rather uneventful. Keiko slept through most of it, though she did wake up and demand to be fed and cuddled a few times.

Ataru was glued to the window as they neared Earth. "It looks about the same," he noted happily, looking down at the sleepy baby in his arms. She didn't appear to share his excitement.

"What did you expect?" Lum asked. She nervously turned her attention back to the viewscreen. Her father had warned her that ships couldn't land on Earth anymore without permission. Sure enough they were soon being hailed. She answered the call quickly.

A blonde haired man in a military uniform appeared on the screen. "Welcome to Earth," he greeted them cheerfully. "This area has been designated a special protection zone of the Galactic Trade Alliance. If you wouldn't mind, could you please state your identity and your reason for visiting?"

"My name's Lum Moroboshi, and we're visiting from Oniboshi," she replied. "I believe my father, Warlord Invader, let you know that we were coming."

He quickly looked her up in his database. "You're here with Ataru and Keiko Moroboshi?" he inquired.

She nodded. "Yes. My husband is a native Earthling, if that matters."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "You'll be staying for two days?" he asked curiously.

"That's right," she confirmed. "We're visiting Tomobiki, that's where Darling is from."

The man glanced up in surprise. "You wouldn't happen to play a game called _Runic Worlds_, would you?" he inquired.

"We used to," she replied nervously.

"My name's Gourry," he explained happily. "I believe we met a long while back. You got captured by orcs, right?"

"Oh, I remember you!" she exclaimed. "You were Darling's friend." She turned. "Darling, you remember Gourry, don't you?"

Ataru stepped up. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

"I'm here on patrol with the Meiroonian military," Gourry replied cheerfully. "I see you've had a kid since we last talked."

Ataru nodded. "Yeah, this is Keiko," he proudly announced. He thought for a moment. "Whatever happened with that Lina girl?"

Gourry blushed. "Well, I finally asked her out a few months ago, and she said yes. I won't get to see her again for a few more weeks though."

"That's great," Ataru replied. "I told you she seemed interested."

Gourry nodded "Thank you," he replied. "Well, everything looks in order here, so you can go on down. Just make sure you check in with someone if anything changes."

Lum nodded. "Thanks, it was nice seeing you," she replied before the screen cut off.

Ataru shook his head. "What are the chances of us running into him again?"

"I don't know," Lum said distractedly as she guided the ship towards Japan. "Pretty low, I'd imagine. I'm glad he's doing well though."

* * *

Lum set the ship down carefully on the front lawn of Tomobiki high school. It was Saturday, so she doubted anyone would mind. Plus it wasn't that far from their old house.

"Did you see the park?" Ataru muttered as he slipped his coat on. "It looked like they cut down a bunch of sakura trees.

"I saw," Lum replied. "At least the fountain looked ok."

"Yeah, it did," he replied. They'd started a lot of dates at that fountain, and it was nice to see it just the way he remembered.

"I hope Keiko won't be cold," Lum mused as she snugly bundled up their daughter.

"Maybe she'll take after you," he mused. He didn't know how Lum could stand wearing just a knee length dress and light jacket in the middle of winter.

"Well, I'm not taking any chances," she replied. She handed Ataru the baby sling her mother had given her. "Make sure you hold onto her tight," she told him.

Ataru adjusted the tiger-striped sling and slipped it on. "I'm not going to drop her," he muttered. "I haven't ever dropped her."

Lum smiled. "I know." She handed Keiko over to him and made sure that the infant was secure. "Ready?"

He nodded and opened the door. Lum grabbed him under the shoulders and lifted him out, making sure that he was indeed keeping a firm grasp on Keiko.

"Oof," she grunted as she sat him down heavily on the ground. "It's been a while since I carried you."

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, rubbing her sore back. "I think that's a sign that I need to start exercising again though."

"You've already lost a ton of weight," he replied. "But yeah, I think we could both use some more exercise. Maybe when it warms up we can take Keiko out with us."

Lum nodded. "Ok, where to first?"

"I guess let's go to our old house," he replied. "I haven't seen it in forever."

"Ok," she replied. "Do you want me to carry Keiko?"

"Nah, she's fine," he replied.

They made their way down the quiet streets at a brisk pace. A few people stared at them, Lum's long absence from town having made the sight of a flying woman somewhat of a curiosity again. Not too many people were out; Ataru figured the cold weather was keeping most inside.

They stopped briefly at the old construction site where Cherry had used to live. His tent was still there, but neither the tiny monk of Kotatsuneko was around. With a shrug Ataru continued on, hoping that the monk was all right. Annoying as he was, Cherry was still a friend of sorts.

When they finally reached their destination, Ataru stared at the familiar two-story house for a few moments. "It seems like forever since we've been here," he murmured.

"I know," Lum replied. She pointed at the planks covering the front window. "Shutaro said in his letter that the government boarded up the place."

"I just hope no one's broken in," he said, fishing around in his pocket for his long unused house key. "Let's go on in, I'm freezing." He unlocked the door quickly and went in.

It wasn't much warmer inside, but at least the wind wasn't blowing. Lum shut the door securely behind her and giggled as Ataru habitually tried to kick his shoes off. "Don't worry about it," she told him, pointing at his boots. "You know they won't carry dirt."

"Oh yeah," he replied, clearly embarrassed. "Force of habit, I guess." He peeked his head into the dimly lit main room. "Everything looks ok."

Out of habit Lum flicked the light switch on. To their surprise the light actually came on.

"I guess they kept the electricity going too," Ataru mused. He went into the kitchen and out of curiosity opened the fridge. Gagging, he quickly slammed it shut again.

"That is just foul," he loudly announced as he left the room.

"What is?" Lum called down from upstairs.

"Whatever was in the fridge when we left is still in there," he explained. "Smells pretty nasty."

"Well, don't try and eat it then," she admonished him. "Someone took our computer," she complained a moment later. "And my phone relay is gone too."

He started up the stairs. "What else is gone?" he asked.

She peeked her head out. "So far I haven't noticed anything else missing," she replied. "I spent a lot of time building those though."

"Well, the TV's still here," he replied as he entered the room. "Maybe those government guys took them."

"Probably," Lum sighed. She opened the closet. "Our old futons are still here, but they smell kind of musty," she noted. "Looks like all our clothes are still here too."

"Great," Ataru said, eagerly peering over her shoulder. "It's a pain to find stuff I like back on Oniboshi."

"I wonder if everything will still fit you," she replied, examining him critically.

"I already said I'll start exercising again," he retorted as he walked over to his old desk. "Man, it's really weird to see all this stuff again."

Lum nodded. "Keiko's being pretty quiet," she noted. "I think she's curious too."

Ataru glanced down. "I think you're right," he replied. Checking his watch, he carefully removed Keiko from the sling. "Looks like it's about lunch time though."

Lum took her and sat down in the floor on her old tiger-striped rug. "Thanks for reminding me," she told him as she shrugged her small backpack off.

"I'm going to go downstairs and see if the phone's still working," Ataru announced. "Hopefully we can get an appointment for either this afternoon or tomorrow."

"Thank you, Darling," Lum replied.

* * *

Shutaro sat up straight in his chair. "What did you say?"

"We were just informed that the Moroboshis are visiting Tomobiki," his secretary repeated. "The Trade Alliance said they just checked in about and hour ago."

"Did they say who exactly were coming?" he asked cautiously.

"No, they just said the Moroboshis," she responded apologetically.

He ticked his fingers nervously on the desk. "Alright," he replied. "I'm going to take the rest of the day off. Can you handle things here?"

"Yes sir," she promptly replied.

As he rode down in his private elevator, he tried to contain his excitement. It wouldn't do for the new head of the Mendou Conglomerate to look unprofessional on his way out.

Taking out his phone, he quickly dialed Sayomi's number. "Hey, Sayomi, it's me," he greeted her.

"Hi, Shutaro," she replied cheerfully. "What's up?"

"I'm leaving work early," he replied. "I just heard that some old friends of mine are visiting Tomobiki."

"Who is it?" she inquired.

"Moroboshi and Lum-san, I'm hoping," he replied.

"Oh," she replied in a flat tone. "That's great."

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"No," she answered in the same tone. Nothing at all wrong about her Shutaro being excited because the girl he used to moon over was back in town.

"Well, I'm going to swing by and pick you up," he replied. "If you wouldn't mind getting ready real quick."

"I'll be ready," she promised.

Shutaro looked at his phone for a moment, wondering what her problem was. He reached the garage and found his driver waiting to go. His secretary really was quite efficient. He got in and told the driver where to go. After the car started moving he sat back and pulled his phone back out. After a moment's hesitation, he tried the Moroboshi's old number next. Hopefully the utility companies were still keeping the house in service like they had agreed.

It rang several times, and just as Shutaro was about to give up hope of anyone answering, someone finally picked up.

"Hello?" a male voice asked curiously.

"Moroboshi?" Shutaro asked hesitantly. It'd been a long time since he'd heard that voice.

"Is that you, Mendou?" Ataru asked, sounding suspicious. "How did you know we were here?"

"Those guys up in orbit gave us a heads up that you were coming down," he replied. "I was just hoping you would stop by your old place."

"Is that right?" Ataru replied. "Well, we were actually planning on calling you after we took care of a few things." He hesitated for a moment. "We saw on the news what happened."

"You mean the ordeal with the Uruseins?" Shutaro asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Ataru replied. "I'm really sorry, Mendou. I wish this had played out without anyone getting hurt. I know it's probably not very comforting, but what your parents pulled off was really heroic. People all over the galaxy know what they did, and they're very grateful."

"Thank you," Shutaro replied, surprised to hear Moroboshi sounding so serious. "We only had a vague idea what was at stake at the time, but I know my father wouldn't have done anything differently."

"You have our deepest condolences for your loss," Ataru said earnestly.

"Thank you, but it's ok. I've had some time to mourn since then," Shutaro replied. "Anyways, since you're back in town, what do you say to us getting the old gang back together?"

Ataru was quiet for a moment. "Maybe later," he replied. "We've got some things to do first."

"Nonsense," Shutaro insisted. "I'm on my way there right now. I'll give you a hand with whatever you need to do."

"Would you really?" Ataru asked hesitantly. So far he'd had no luck getting an appointment for Keiko, but maybe Mendou could pull some strings.

"Yeah, it'll be no problem," Shutaro assured him. "Just sit tight."

* * *

A few minutes later the driver pulled up to the front of the posh hotel Shutaro was using as his temporary home. It was going to take time to rebuild on the estate, and he had no intention of commuting back and forth from Okinawa every day. He was pleased to see Sayomi waiting out front for him.

He popped the door open and hopped out. "Hi."

"Hey," she replied. She stepped over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You didn't give me much time to get ready, but I hope I look ok."

He noticed that she was wearing one of her new designer dresses. "I should have told you, we're probably not going anywhere fancy. Sorry about that"

She smiled and daintily climbed into the back seat of the limo. "That's ok," she replied. "I just wanted to look nice."

He shrugged and climbed back in after her. "You look stunning," he replied.

"Good," she responded. She leaned in closer to him, making him very aware of the low cut of her dress. "I hoped you'd like it."

He swallowed heavily. "It's very nice."

She pulled back a little bit. "Thank you for this, by the way. This one was a little expensive, but I thought it was really cute, and you said I needed to get a few really nice ones for dinner parties."

He shook his head. For some reason she tended to fret over buying expensive things for herself, even though it was an insignificant amount to him. It had been a bit of a struggle to get her to order some dresses suitable for company functions.

"You look great, and don't worry about the cost," he told her firmly.

She beamed. "Thank you, Shutaro."

* * *

"I wonder how much longer it'll be," Ataru mused as he leaned back against the bedroom wall. He chuckled as Keiko started playing with his finger. "Mendou said he was on his way, but he didn't say from where."

Lum paused her sorting through their old clothes and shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "I just hope he can get us an appointment. I can't believe no one had anything available."

"Apparently it's flu season," Ataru responded irritably. "Sorry, but I tried everyone in the book."

"I know you did," she replied. She held her old winter school uniform up to her body and twirled around to show him. "Do you think I can still fit in this?"

"Maybe," he replied cautiously. "Why would you want to though?"

"I always thought it was really cute," she pouted. "Didn't you?"

"Yeah, it was," he admitted. "You should keep it out of sentimentality if nothing else."

"I will," she decided. "I had a lot of good times in this uniform."

Ataru sat up as he heard a faint knocking on the front door. "I'll bet that's Mendou," he announced. He picked Keiko up and went downstairs.

"I'll be down in a minute," Lum called out as she hurriedly finished folding her sailor suit.

He opened the door and blinked in surprise. Mendou dressed in an expensive looking business suit wasn't a sight he had been prepared for. The unfamiliar cute girl in the fancy dress next to him just added to the oddness.

"I suddenly feel very underdressed," Ataru commented jokingly.

Shutaro stared in astonishment at the young infant cradled securely in Moroboshi's arms. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," he murmured. But there was absolutely no question whose kid it was. It had Lum's horns and bright blue eyes, but something about that face was unmistakably evocative of Moroboshi. "You two had a kid?"

Ataru's brow furrowed. "What's so hard to believe about that?" he demanded irritably.

Shutaro shook his head. "Nothing, I suppose," he stammered. "It's just rather unexpected."

Ataru smiled. "I guess it would be," he chuckled. "If you'd told me a couple of years ago that I'd be a daddy now, I wouldn't have believed it either." He gave her a loving glance. "Her name's Keiko, by the way."

"She's really cute," Shutaro replied, still flabbergasted by the drastic changes in the way Moroboshi was acting. His gaze shifted as Lum appeared in the doorway behind them.

"Hi, Shutaro-san," she greeted him cheerfully.

He gazed at the oni princess for a moment. She looked to have matured a bit as well, though she still had the same impish beauty to her. "Hello, Lum-san," he replied formally. "You have a very beautiful daughter."

Lum smiled. "Thank you," she replied. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Aoki Sayomi-san," he hastily introduced her. "She's my girlfriend."

Both Ataru and Lum silently wondered what had happened with Asuka, but decided it would be best to keep their mouth shut.

Sayomi stepped forward and bowed politely. "It's very nice to meet you both," she formally greeted them. "Shutaro's told me a lot about you two."

Ataru grinned. "Whatever he said about me, you shouldn't believe it."

She giggled. "He hasn't said anything bad," she assured him as she latched possessively onto Shutaro's arm.

Ataru grinned. He recognized her body language all too well from years of being around Lum. Sayomi was making it quite clear that Mendou was hers.

Shutaro recognized her grip as well. Sayomi's unusually dressy outfit suddenly made sense as he realized that she was jealous. "So what all did you guys need to do?" he asked nervously.

Ataru rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly with his free hand. "Well, first off I've been trying to get an appointment so that we can get Keiko vaccinated, but I'm not having any luck."

Shutaro thought for a moment. "I'll call one of our private doctors and set it up," he promised. "What else?"

"Well, we've got some clothes and other stuff in the house that we need to sort through," Lum spoke up, "but that can wait until tomorrow."

"If you need any help with that, just let me know," Shutaro replied as he fished out his phone. "Give me a minute," he told them as he stepped away to make a call.

"So, how long have you two been going out?" Lum asked Sayomi.

She smiled. "We've only been going out for about three months, but we've been good friends for a lot longer than that."

"You're fairly new to Tomobiki, right?" Ataru asked. "I don't remember seeing you around town before, and I never forget a pretty face"

"Do you honestly remember every girl you've seen?" Lum asked curiously.

"Pretty much," he responded proudly.

"That's... very special, Darling," she replied somewhat worriedly.

"I did move here within the last year," Sayomi admitted.

"I thought so," Ataru replied happily. "So are you two pretty serious?"

"I'd like to think so," Sayomi slyly replied. "We are living together, after all"

Lum's eyes widened. "I wouldn't have expected that from Shutaro-san," she murmured.

Ataru laughed. "I guess he's not as chivalrous as he always claimed to be."

"Shutaro is a perfect gentleman," Sayomi protested, starting to get angry. "Please don't imply anything to the contrary."

"Oh, Mendou and I have always busted each other's chops," Ataru hastily assured her. "Don't take anything I say seriously."

Sayomi nodded. "Still, he's a really sensitive guy," she quietly insisted. "And he acts cheerful, but I know he's still hurting over what happened to his parents. So please, be nice to him. He's talked about you two a lot, and I can tell he's really excited to see you."

Ataru expression became downcast. "I see," he replied in a more somber tone.

"Poor Shutaro-san," Lum said sadly. She caught the suspicious glance that Sayomi shot her and idly wondered how many other girls she had given that exact same look in the past.

"Well, I got you appointment in about an hour," Shutaro announced as he rejoined them. "Is that ok?"

Ataru nodded. "Thank you, Mendou," he said earnestly. "We really appreciate it."

"It's nothing," Shutaro replied embarrassedly. "That's what friends are for, right?"

"So you're calling me a friend?" Ataru asked hesitantly.

Shutaro stared at him for a moment. "I didn't say that," he announced haughtily as he turned away. "I meant that I did it as a favor for Lum-san."

Ataru snorted. "Of course you did," he muttered. "Well, thanks anyways."

* * *

"Well, now what?" Ataru asked as they left the hospital.

"Was there anything else you needed to take care of today?" Shutaro inquired.

Ataru shook his head. "No, not particularly," he admitted. He shot a quick glance back at Lum and Sayomi. "They seem to be hitting it off pretty well," he observed.

"Yes, they do," Shutaro agreed. "Sayomi-san seems to make new friends pretty easily." He strolled on for a few minutes before continuing. "So how are things going?"

"Pretty good," Ataru replied. "The economy's pretty rough right now, but they're hoping that this new Trade Alliance deal will help that."

"I actually meant with you and Lum," Shutaro responded.

"Oh," Ataru replied. "Things are great with us. I mean, lately it's been kind of hectic with Keiko and all, but I'm really happy with how things have turned out."

"I'm glad to hear that," Shutaro replied. "It seems like you've changed a lot since you left."

"Do you think so?" Ataru mused. "I don't really feel like it. But you seem somewhat different as well. You're not nearly as condescending as you used to be."

"I've been trying to improve my attitude towards others," Shutaro admitted. "I learned that I wasn't quite the person I desired to be, so I'm trying to change that."

"I could have told you that," Ataru laughed.

Shutaro glowered at him. "Watch it, Moroboshi.

Lum smiled as she half listened to the two argue. "They're always like that," she sighed, cradling their sleeping infant close to her chest.

Sayomi looked down at the ground. "Your husband isn't anything like I expected," she admitted. "Wasn't he notorious for chasing girls and constantly causing trouble?"

"Darling was a bit more troublesome a couple of years ago," Lum replied. "But he's grown up a lot since then."

"So you're happy with him, right?" Sayomi asked.

Lum nodded. "Of course, Darling makes me very happy."

"Good,' Sayomi replied, crossing her arms.

Ataru dropped back. "Hey, Lum, Mendou thinks that we should try and get Shinobu-chan and whoever else we can round up from our old gang together for dinner tonight. What do you think?"

"That'd be great," Lum replied happily. "I'd really like to catch up with Shinobu-chan."

"Is that ok with you, Sayomi?" Shutaro asked.

She nodded. "That sounds like fun."

"Alright then, I'll go ahead and start inviting people," Shutaro replied.


	30. The More Things Change

Lum and Ataru sat huddled quietly together in a dark corner of the restaurant. Mendou had somehow managed to reserve the entire place for their party, which judging by their past gatherings was probably the safest idea.

"What are you guys doing way over here?" Shutaro asked as he crossed the room. "Everyone should start arriving soon." As he got closer he blushed and quickly turned away.

"Keiko's in the middle of her own dinner right now," Ataru replied calmly. "We'll be over after she's done."

"Sorry to bother you," Shutaro apologized. Lum had draped a small blanket over himself so that nothing could be seen, but it was still embarrassing to bother them at such a moment. "Just come over whenever you're ready."

Ataru watched him stalk off. "Mendou's still really easy to embarrass," he chuckled.

Lum smiled. "Like you weren't the same way once. Do you remember how long it was before you were comfortable with me just taking off my top at night?"

He shook his head. "That's different," he quietly protested.

"Shutaro-san's really trying hard to be nice to us," Lum observed. "And it's not because he's after me anymore."

"Yeah, he's definitely just got eyes for his new girlfriend," Ataru agreed. "It's pretty weird."

"I think it's sweet," she replied. "And I think it's really nice that you're not trying to start anything today, Darling. I really appreciate it."

Ataru shrugged. "It's been a long time, and he's had some really hard stuff to deal with. Plus he's not on my nerves as much as he used to be."

"Admit it, a lot of it is that he's not interested in me anymore."

"That's part of it," he reluctantly agreed. "But he's not trying to make me feel inferior anymore either."

She nodded. "You're right."

The door jangled open as Ryuunosuke nervously peeked in.

"I'm glad you could make it, Ryuunosuke-san," Shutaro politely greeted her.

"Hey, I couldn't miss this," she replied, looking around eagerly. "Where are they at?"

Shutaro nodded towards the corner. "Give them a few minutes, they're busy right now."

Ryuunosuke shrugged. "Whatever. Where's the food then?"

"They'll start bringing it out soon," he assured her. "You can just have a seat anywhere you want in the meantime."

She had barely sat down when more of the guests started arriving. First it was Shinobu, then Perm and Chibi came in together. A few minutes later Sakura and Tsubame arrived, followed closely by Cherry.

Shinobu quickly spotted the two guests of honor and made her way over. "Oh my god, Lum-chan, you had a baby?"

Lum nodded. "Yes, her name's Keiko," she replied cheerfully. "It's really good to see you, Shinobu-chan."

"When you're finished, you have to show everyone," Shinobu squealed. She shot a curious glance at Ataru. "I just can't believe you're a father."

"Why do people keep saying that?" he demanded.

"Darling's a great daddy," Lum spoke up defensively. "You should see him up in the middle of the night trying to get her to stop crying."

"Well, I've seen how he acted around Ten-chan," Shinobu replied curiously. "Please tell me he's better than that."

"There's no comparison," Lum assured her.

"Well, I'm glad that you've finally grown up then, Ataru," Shinobu replied with a smile. "It's about time."

He grumbled something unintelligible, prompting her to laugh.

"Well, I haven't seen Ryuunosuke-chan in forever, so I'll talk to you guys whenever you're done here," she promised.

After she had left, Ataru gave Lum an uncertain glance. "I am a good father, right?"

"Yes, Darling, you know you are," she assured him. "Don't let anyone get to you."

Ataru simple shrugged in reply.

"Anyways, Keiko's finished," Lum announced as she quickly got herself presentable. "Why don't we go say hi to everyone?"

"Sure," he mumbled.

* * *

The moment the couple rejoined the party they were instantly swarmed by their old friends. Everyone was eager to see Keiko, and Ataru could only hope that their close proximity didn't make Lum too nervous. She'd already had to stand out in the hall earlier when Keiko was getting her shots, and he just hoped no one was about to get bitten.

He noticed Lum was starting to look more and more irritated, so he gently tugged her out of the middle of the crowd. "Sorry," he apologized to their confused friends. "Lum's just a bit tired, and I think that you're kind of overwhelming her." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Could everyone just sit down and give her a little space?"

There were a few murmured apologies as their friends reluctantly returned to their nearby seats. Pulling out a chair at the table Shinobu and Sayomi had claimed, he urged Lum to sit down. She sunk into the chair, still breathing heavily. After a minute or two her agitation appeared to evaporate.

"Are you ok," Lum-chan?" Shinobu asked concernedly.

Lum nodded. "Yeah, I'm just fine," she replied cheerfully. "Sorry about that, I just get nervous when people are too close to Keiko."

Ataru sat down by her side. "It's just an oni thing," he explained apologetically.

Shinobu looked confused, but simply nodded. "Ok," she cautiously replied.

Ataru glanced over at the next table where Perm and Chibi were joking around with Tsubame. "I'm a little surprised that Kakugari isn't here. It's weird to see Chibi without him."

Shutaro, having just returned from speaking with the owner, sat down next to Sayomi. "I heard Kakugari got a job offer down in Nagoya," he revealed. "Perm said Chibi was pretty upset for a while, but they still hang out together at least."

Ataru nodded. "How's the food coming?"

"They'll have it ready soon," Shutaro replied. "This was kind of last minute for them."

"Thanks for all this, Shutaro-san," Lum told him. "It's really nice to see everyone again."

He waved her thanks away. "I haven't seen most of these guys since we left high school," he replied.

"That's your own fault," Cherry spoke up as he climbed into the seat on the other side of Ataru. He peered over at Keiko. "Congratulations on the birth of your daughter," he said somberly, clasping his hands together.

"What are you doing?" Ataru demanded.

"I'm praying that she does not share your ill luck," Cherry replied without opening his eyes.

"Yeah, we all know how effective your prayers are," Ataru growled. "If you tell me she has bad omens about her, I'm kicking you out in the street."

"I sense no evil spirits gathered about her," Cherry calmly replied. "It appears that even your own dark aura has somewhat faded."

Ataru scoffed and turned his attention back to Lum. "I'll bet you're hungry. We haven't eaten anything since this morning."

She nodded but suddenly looked irritated. Following her gaze, Ataru jumped back as he realized Cherry was now sitting on the table directly in front of him.

"Are you certain this is your daughter?" the monk asked curiously. "She seems somehow immune to the Moroboshi curse. Perhaps she benefits from Lum's more pure spirit."

Waking up from a short nap, Keiko glanced around curiously, unused to being around so many people. After a moment her eyes landed on Cherry's nearby face. Immediately tears sprung to her eyes as she buried her face against Lum's shoulder. The infant whimpered softly, occasionally glancing back to see if the monk was gone.

Ataru glared at Cherry irritably. "See what you did?" he growled, picking the unrepentant monk up by the back of his shirt and depositing him back in his seat. "I always said you had a face that makes babies cry, but I didn't know you were going to prove me right."

"Shhh," Lum murmured, cuddling Keiko close. "Quiet down, little one. I know Cherry's scary, but he's not going to hurt you."

Cherry glowered at the whole table. "You young people should give an old man the respect he deserves."

Shutaro chuckled. "We give you all the respect you usually warrant."

With a sigh Cherry slipped out of his chair and went back towards where Sakura was sitting. Ryuunosuke quickly claimed his empty seat.

"Hey, Moroboshi, Lum-chan," she greeted them, eyeing Ataru distrustfully. "Congratulations on the kid."

"Ryuu-chan!" Ataru greeted her happily.

"You aren't going to try to feel me up, are you?" she asked cautiously. "I don't care how long it's been, I'll still knock your block off."

He grinned and shook his head. "As much as I hate to deprive all the ladies of my attention, Lum's the only lady I have eyes for these days."

"That's very sweet of you, Darling," Lum dryly remarked.

"Awww," Ryuunosuke said, whacking Ataru on the shoulder. "You guys are really cute together." She leaned in close. "I hate to ask, but do you know if Benten-sama is going to be by this way sometime? She still owes me a rematch."

"Actually, she might be swinging by tonight," he replied. "Oyuki-chan and Ran-chan too."

"Oh?" Ryuunosuke replied, suddenly looking flustered. She quickly regained her cool composure. "Thanks," she said, hopping back up.

"That was kind of weird," Ataru muttered. He turned his attention back to the conversation that Shinobu and Lum were having.

"Well, I have to watch Keiko, so Darling's supporting us all by himself right now," Lum was explaining. "I wish I could start working again, but there's just no way right now."

"You keep the house clean, and cook, and you still handle all of the scheduling," he pointed out. "Don't act like you don't work hard."

She waved him away. "Anyways, how do you like university life?"

Shinobu smiled. "It's hard work, but not like high school was." She glanced guiltily over at Shutaro. "I hate that you had to drop out."

Shutaro shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I'm learning a lot more from hands on experience running the company. And I can always go back and get a degree later if I feel like it."

Shinobu was about to say something else when the door opened and Ryoko stumbled in, carrying a handkerchief and weeping. "Oh, big brother, I can't believe you threw a party and didn't even invite your own sister." She gave a dramatic glance around the room. "It's just too cruel."

Shutaro gave her a stern look. "I called you earlier, and you said you didn't know if you could make it."

"Don't ruin my entrance," Ryoko hissed at him as she walked by. "Hello Ataru-san, Lum-san."

They waved gingerly as she stalked past and settled down at another table to quietly weep.

"I'm glad to see she's getting back to normal," Shinobu commented. "She hasn't been acting much lately."

"It was sort of a nice break," Shutaro replied exasperatedly.

Sayomi tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't be mean to her. She's just having fun."

"Fine," he replied noncommittally.

"So did you invite anyone else?" Ataru asked curiously.

"I gave Onsen-Mark-Sensei a call," Shutaro replied. "He said he'd try to make it."

"Really? That old windbag?"

"It was Sakura-sensei's idea," Shutaro protested.

"Well, maybe he's won't come," Ataru mused.

"I think it would be nice to see him again, Darling," Lum spoke up.

"I just know that he'll be on my case about something," Ataru mumbled.

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. They'd had this conversation before.

* * *

It wasn't long after the food started being served that Onsen-Mark came strolling in the door. He sniffed at the air excitedly, a big smile spreading across his face. Shaking his head, he crossed over to Ataru's table.

"Moroboshi!" he growled. "I couldn't believe you just up and took off after all that work we put in junior year. Do you have any idea how much time I spent trying to get you to study?"

Ataru glared at him. "I didn't really have a choice," he retorted grumpily.

Their old teacher glowered at him for a moment longer before cracking a wide smile. He slapped Ataru roughly on the back as he burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding you, Moroboshi." He sat down heavily next to his former student. "Lum-san, it's good to see you again as well. I see you're a mother now. I wish you both the best of luck with that."

She smiled. "Thank you, Onsen-Mark-sensei."

Ataru gave him a suspicious look. "What's with the nice act?"

He laughed. "I don't have to put up with you guys in my class anymore," Onsen-Mark explained. "You have no idea how less stressful my job is now. There hasn't been a single explosion or fight all year." He shook his head. "Or alien brats blowing fire everywhere."

"Sounds boring," Ataru replied nonchalantly.

Onsen-Mark frowned. "It's a little less exciting," he admitted more grouchily. "But I can finally teach again. That's always been my goal, not babysitting a bunch of nutcases."

"Come now, we weren't that bad last year," Shutaro protested.

"Don't give me that. Fujinami-san still got in a bunch of fights," Onsen reminded him. "Plus there was that time that Tanaka-san said something and Mendou-san tried to slice him in half."

"He insulted the Mendou family name," Shutaro replied haughtily. "I couldn't just let that go. And I didn't even cut him."

Ataru chuckled. "Same old Mendou."

"Anyhow, you were always the worst, Moroboshi," the teacher replied. "Lum-chan was an ok student on her own. You were always starting something, and then she couldn't ever stay out of it."

"I had to protect my Darling," Lum protested. "Or punish him. It depended on what he was doing."

Onsen laughed. "It seems like the punishment outweighed the protection." He took a closer look at their daughter, noticing her tiny horns. "Is she going to be able to fly around and electrocute people too?"

"We don't know yet," Lum replied. "It is possible."

He sighed. "I just know that someday I'm going to get her in my class. It's just my luck. A Moroboshi shooting lightning everywhere."

"You won't have to worry about that," Ataru replied irritably. "We aren't planning to move back here."

"Seriously?" Shinobu asked incredulously. "I always figured you'd come back sooner or later. Tomobiki just isn't the same without you."

"As did I," Shutaro admitted. "I assumed that was the purpose of your visit, to arrange everything for your return."

"We just came to visit and pick a few things up from our old house," Ataru explained. "We've got to leave again tomorrow night."

"What made you change your mind?" Shinobu asked. "Back when you sent me those letters it sounded like you were planning on coming back as soon as you could."

Ataru glanced at Lum and shrugged. "A lot of things have changed since then," he replied hesitantly. "We've discussed it at length and decided it's best for us to stay on Oniboshi."

"Why's that?" Shinobu insisted.

"I can support my family there," he said bluntly. "I'm nothing but a high school dropout back here, but I'm a licensed technician on Oniboshi. And I can't be trying to catch up with school while working full time. It might would be different if it was just us two, and my parents were coming back to help, but as is, there's just no way."

"Oh," Shinobu replied apologetically. "I didn't think of that." She sighed. "That is a shame though."

"Sorry, Shinobu-chan," Lum spoke up. "We didn't mean to get anyone's hopes up."

"You don't need to apologize," Shinobu protested. "I am going to miss you guys though."

Shutaro decided to keep silent.

* * *

The dinner party was mostly over by the time Benten, Oyuki, and Ran arrived. Most of the guests had already left, but their core group of friends was still sitting around quietly chatting about old times. Everyone looked up as a sudden chill swept across the room, followed by the restroom door slamming open. After a moment the three alien girls strode out.

"Sorry we're late," Benten apologized loudly. "Oyuki's had us wandering around on Neptune all day."

Ran started stripping off her ice-coated jacket. "That place is terrible," she complained. "It's so cold and her palace is still back on Oniboshi, so we've been outside all day."

"It was not that cold out," Oyuki protested. "That was a rather warm day for my planet."

"Oh, you have ice water in your veins," Ran muttered. She sat down and started shivering. "I'm sick of winter."

"It is the middle of summer on Neptune," Oyuki commented.

Benten laughed. "It's pretty hot on Fukujin right now. Just yesterday I went swimming, and the water was so nice."

"Yeah, keep rubbing it in," Ran griped. "Just our luck that Oniboshi and Earth's seasons overlap."

"Hey everyone," Lum greeted them. "You kind of missed the party, but there's still some food left, and plenty of tea."

"I am sorry for our delay," Oyuki apologized. "It was entirely my fault. I was needed to help determine the stability of the landing point for the _Minokichi_. I was worried that our take off had weakened the area, but it appears that it will be ok."

"I don't know how we got roped into helping," Ran complained. "We were just stopping by on our way here."

I do appreciate your assistance," Oyuki replied. "Don't worry, Ran, I will make sure you are well compensated for your time."

Ran brightened up. "Well, that's different then!" she cheerfully replied.

Benten stepped over to Lum's table. "How's it going, you guys?"

"We've had a fun day," Lum replied. "It's been really nice to see everyone again."

Shinobu yawned. "I hate to leave right after you finally made it, but I'm going to have to get going." She glared at Lum. "Don't you dare leave tomorrow without saying goodbye," she insisted. "Make sure you call me."

"Do you need a ride home?" Shutaro inquired sleepily.

"No, I'll be fine," Shinobu replied. "Thanks anyways. It's been nice seeing everyone."

She waved as she went out the door, leaving the already quiet room even more silent.

"This isn't much of a party," Benten observed. "You all look like you're half asleep." She pointed at a nearby table. "I think that guy is asleep."

Ataru glanced over. "That's Ryuu-chan," he pointed out. "Just count yourself lucky that she didn't hear that."

Benten laughed. "I haven't seen her in forever. I'll go wake her up."

"Be careful," Shutaro spoke up. "I once saw her give someone a broken nose for doing that."

Benten scoffed at his warning off and snuck quietly over.

"This should be interesting," Ataru remarked as she drew near.

Benten sharply rapped Ryuunosuke on the back of the head and narrowly dodged the fist that came flying up towards her.

"Damn it, old man," Ryuunosuke grunted. She blinked and looked around confused for a moment before she realized who she had woken her up. Her eyes went wide and she blushed hard. "What are you doing?" she demanded bashfully.

"Waking you up," Benten teased. "This isn't a slumber party."

Ryuunosuke abruptly stood up. "Are you trying to start something? That hurt!"

"And so it begins," Ataru commented as the two girls began sizing each other up. "You've got enough to pay for the damage to the restaurant, right, Mendou?"

Shutaro nodded. "If it comes to that," he replied.

Sayomi tugged on his arm. "Shouldn't you do something? Ryuunosuke-san looks really mad."

"Don't worry, Benten can handle herself," Lum assured her.

Benten grinned as Ryuunosuke tensed up. "It's been a long time," she muttered.

"Yeah, it has," Ryuunosuke agreed. She suddenly grinned and held out her hand. "Put her there."

Benten cheerfully clasped her opponent's hand. "No hard feelings then?"

"Nah," Ryuunosuke replied. "You didn't clock me nearly as hard as my dad would have. That didn't even hurt." She glanced out the window. "Did you bring your bike?"

"Nah, it's on Ran's ship, and that's back on Neptune," Benten replied regretfully. "We figured it would be faster if Oyuki transported us here."

"Oh," Ryuunosuke replied, clearly disappointed. "I guess our rematch will have to wait for another time then."

"Nah, if you're up for it, I bet we can find a couple of bikes pretty quick," Benten replied excitedly. "No matter what I'm riding, I can still beat you."

"You're on," Ryuunosuke replied as they headed towards the door. "Thanks for the fun party guys. We'll have to do it again sometime."

"Well, that was rather anticlimactic," Ataru observed as they left. "I thought they were going to go at it."

Lum shrugged. "That's Benten for you," she replied. "I'll bet they end up fighting somewhere before the night's over though." She looked down. "I'm glad they didn't start fighting though. Keiko's still asleep."

"There goes our only chance at entertainment. I can't believe how boring this place is," Ran complained. "What time is it here?"

"Almost one in the morning," Sayomi replied. "We're up later than usual."

"I do apologize," Oyuki replied. "It is still the middle of the afternoon at home, and I suppose the time just got away from us."

"So, it's just us six now," Ataru replied. "What are we going to do?"

"I think that we should call it a night, Shutaro," Sayomi told him. "You're barely awake."

Shutaro politely covered a yawn and sighed. "You're right. I'm sure the owner's about ready to close up too." He pushed himself slowly to his feet. "Sorry everyone, but I guess the party's over."

"We just got here," Ran piped up.

Oyuki nodded. "Come along, Ran, we can find something to amuse ourselves elsewhere. I will even buy you something nice to make up for today."

Ran smiled. "See you later, Lum-chan, Darling, Shutaro-san, and whoever you are."

"My name is Sayomi," Sayomi replied smartly.

"Well, you're new," Ran griped as she headed towards the restroom. "How am I supposed to remember people I haven't met before?"

Oyuki followed more slowly after her grumbling friend. "I am sorry for missing your party," she apologized again as they left.

Lum rose up slowly, trying not to wake Keiko. "Are you ready to go back, Darling?" she asked.

"I could give you a ride," Shutaro offered. "It's pretty cold out there."

"We left our saucer back at Tomobiki High," Ataru replied. "That's pretty far." He glanced at his sleeping daughter. "I'd appreciate it if you could, I'd hate to have Keiko out."

"You aren't worried about me?" Lum asked, pretending to be hurt.

"I've seen you play in the snow in a bikini," Ataru replied flatly.

"You guys can go ahead, the car is waiting out front," Shutaro replied. "I just need to pay the owner and I'll be right out."

* * *

"Thanks for the ride," Lum said as they got out of Shutaro's limo. "We really appreciate it."

Sayomi nodded. "It was really no problem," she replied.

Shutaro's only reply was another loud snore.

"Tell him we both said thanks whenever he wakes up," Ataru chuckled. "It was really nice meeting you, Sayomi-chan."

She nodded. "It was nice meeting you two as well. I know Shutaro had a lot of fun today."

They waved as the car drove off.

"Well, I'm freezing," Ataru announced as they walked towards their ship. "Let's get inside. Go ahead and carry Keiko in, then you can come back for me."

"I can get you both at the same time," Lum protested.

"I don't want you to hurt your back," he replied. "I know Keiko doesn't weigh much, but every little bit helps."

"Fine," she replied, heading towards the hatch with Keiko held securely in her arms.

"So need to get a rope ladder," Ataru mused as he watched her disappear inside. In the distance he heard the high-pitched whine of a motorcycle and wondered idly if it was Benten or Ryuunosuke.

"I think we're getting old," he announced as Lum returned.

"I'm only nineteen," she retorted as she hefted him into the air. "I certainly don't feel old."

"I remember a time when everyone would have still been awake way later than this," he continued quietly.

She set him down heavily on the floor inside and shut the hatch. "You're going on a diet when we get home."

He gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied as she stretched. "I'm just a bit tired, and you're heavier than you used to be."

"Want me to carry you to bed?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied, hopping easily into his arms. "Carry me into the bedroom at least, we still need to get out of these clothes and tuck in Keiko."

He grinned. "Sure, my love."

* * *

"Lum?" Ataru asked as he stared at the dark ceiling.

"Hm?" she sleepily replied.

"I had a lot of fun today, didn't you?"

"Yes, Darling, I did," she admitted, snuggling closer to him.

"How long has it been since we really went out and did anything?"

"I guess it was way back on my birthday," she answered.

"That's what I thought," he sighed.

"You miss Tomobiki a lot, don't you, Darling?" Lum asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "They've changed a little, but the old gang is pretty much the same."

"I know," she replied. A few moments of silence passed before she spoke again. "Are you regretting our decision to not move back here?"

"It's not a matter of regretting it," he replied. "The most important thing to me is keeping you and Keiko fed and happy."

"That's very sweet of you, Darling," Lum whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. "That's why you're such a wonderful daddy."

Despite her warm embrace, it was a long time before Ataru was able to fall asleep that night.

* * *

"What about this sweater, Darling?"

"Does it have a hole in it?"

"Just a little one down on the waist."

Ataru thought for a moment. "Sure," he decided. "I always liked that one.

Lum rolled her eyes as she folded it back up and placed it in the keep pile. Darling had always had a bad habit of messing up his clothes. Still she felt bad every time she found one with singe marks.

"Did you find your mother's good kimono?" she asked as she continued going through their closet.

"Yeah, it's in a box downstairs," he replied. "I made sure to pack it up real well."

"Thanks," Lum replied. "I looked earlier but it wasn't where she said it was."

"Yeah, Dad used to secretly move her stuff around to drive her nuts," Ataru replied. "Don't tell her that though."'

Lum giggled. "I would have never suspected it of him." She shot him a suspicious look. "You haven't done that to me, have you?"

"No," Ataru swore. "You're just a scatterbrain who can't remember where she leaves stuff."

"That's not very nice," Lum replied grumpily. "Even if it is occasionally true." She glared at him. "Darling, you aren't even doing anything right now, are you?"

"I'm watching Keiko," he casually replied. "Plus I'm helping you sort through these clothes."

"You look like you're just staring out the window to me," Lum retorted. "We're never going to get through all this stuff if you don't help."

Ataru sighed and picked up another shirt from the pile she had assigned him. "Where are we going to put all this stuff? There's no way they're going to fit in our closet."

"I was hoping my parents could store some of it for us," Lum replied. "They've got plenty of extra room."

He shrugged. "I guess they do."

Both of them glanced up in surprise as a brisk knock sounded on the front door.

"Watch her a second," Ataru asked as he handed Keiko over to Lum. "I'll go see who it is."

* * *

Ataru curiously peered out the door at their grim faced visitor. "Hey, Mendou," he tentatively greeted him. "What's up?"

"May I come in?" Shutaro asked briskly.

"Sure," Ataru replied cheerfully as he let Mendou in. "We're still going to be here a few more hours. I told you guys we'd let you know before we left."

"Is Lum-san upstairs?" Shutaro asked as he stepped into the main room.

Ataru nodded hesitantly. Something seemed off-putting about his old rival today.

"I want to ask you something," Shutaro continued, looking somewhat nervous. "Can we talk for a couple of minutes?"

"Sure," Ataru replied. "Want me to call her down?"

"Well, this concerns her too," Shutaro replied. "But I want to ask you this first." He took a deep breath. "I want to offer you a job."

Ataru looked at him skeptically for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "No offense, Mendou," he finally answered, "but working for you has always been one of my worst nightmares."

Shutaro glared at him. "Why is that?"

"Because I know how you are," Ataru retorted, starting to get irritated. "You've always looked down on me like I was some kind of low class idiot, you've never made a secret of that."

"I realize that, and I am truly sorry to have treated you that way," Shutaro replied as he bowed low. "Please forgive me."

Ataru stared at Mendou in astonishment. "Is there something wrong with you?" he asked. "You're not acting like yourself at all."

"I am trying to make up for past mistakes," Shutaro grated out. "At least listen to what I have to say before you make up your mind."

Ataru looked suspiciously at him for a moment. "I really just don't think that would work out," he replied firmly. "No matter how nice you're being now, as soon as you had me stuck as your chauffeur or whatever it would be just like it was back then."

Shutaro chuckled as he took a seat on the floor. "That's not the kind of thing I had in mind at all. You wouldn't be working under me, for one thing. You've got invaluable technical knowledge and experience, after all. Our R&D department could really use someone like you."

Ataru frowned. "I'll admit that I know a lot, but it's all stuff that really doesn't apply here."

"With your help it could," Shutaro responded eagerly. "Did you know that we've already built a working ion drive? With your help I know we could make much greater advances. Wouldn't you rather be helping to design new engines instead of just fixing old ones?"

"Being a mechanic is fine with me," Ataru replied stubbornly. "I'm not ashamed of what I do."

Shutaro glared up at Ataru. "At dinner last night Lum-san mentioned that you haven't had as much business lately. I have to ask, do you live comfortably on Oniboshi, or are you just scraping by?"

"We get by just fine," Ataru answered coldly as he looked away. "Not that it's any of your business."

"No, it really isn't," Shutaro agreed, backing down. "But surely you realize that what you know could take you a lot further here on Earth. Trust me, my company would pay you well."

Ataru shook his head, starting to get frustrated. "Why are you so insistent on this?"

"Moroboshi, this isn't just about the job," Shutaro sighed. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I don't have that many real friends. When you're in my position people pretend to like you, but that's not the same thing." He looked down at the floor. "I know you have cause to be wary, but surely you realize how much we all have missed the two of you."

"Look," Ataru replied dubiously. "I'll be honest, I do miss living here. But that doesn't matter; I have to look out for my wife and my little girl. I really need to talk to Lum before I make any decisions on this."

"Actually, Darling," Lum spoke up from her spot in the doorway, "I've been listening to Shutaro-san's proposal, and it sounds like a really good opportunity to me."

Ataru glanced over grumpily, not having realized she was downstairs. She was way too quiet when she hovered, and Keiko appeared to be fast asleep. "You shouldn't eavesdrop on people."

"I wasn't trying to," she replied innocently. "I just didn't want to interrupt."

"Excuse us for a minute," Ataru said as he headed off with his wife in tow. "I'd rather discuss this in private."

As soon as they were back upstairs and his door was shut, Ataru turned to her with a curious expression. "You really think this is a good idea?" he asked hesitantly. "To pack up and move back here just like that?"

Lum looked confused. "What's there to pack? Our home's parked a few blocks away from here."

"You know what I mean," Ataru grumped.

"Well, business has been rather lousy lately," she replied. "And we could use a lot more income coming in now that Keiko's here. What are we going to do when she gets older and we need more room?"

"Wouldn't you miss Oniboshi though?" he asked.

"Darling, I'm happy anywhere as long as I'm with you. And aside from Ran-chan, do we really have any friends on Oniboshi? I loved living here in Tomobiki because I got to meet so many wonderful people."

"Our parents and Jariten are there," Ataru answered stubbornly.

"And we see them pretty infrequently," Lum reminded him. "And it's not like we can't visit them."

"What about Keiko?" Ataru demanded. "What if she gets sick? They don't know anything about Oni here."

"Well, there's a fifty-fifty chance that any illness she gets would be a human one," Lum retorted. "And there's going to be a lot of experienced Neptunians who are just a phone call away if she has any kind of oni related problems."

He shook his head. Lum was shredding through his excuses as fast as he could think them up. "I just don't know. Plus it'd be working for Mendou."

"Shutaro-san seems a lot nicer he used to," Lum replied. "Why don't you give it a try? It's not like you can't quit if it doesn't work out."

Ataru sighed. "I think it would probably be a good move for us," he reluctantly admitted. "But if Mendou starts bugging me, I'll quit on the spot."

"That's fine, Darling," Lum assured him. "I wouldn't want you to do anything that would make you unhappy."

"I'm not worried about myself that much. Will you really be happy here on Earth?" he asked.

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips. "Darling, don't ask such a silly question. When I pleaded for you to let me move in with you, I was prepared to spend the rest of my life here. And even though you drove me nuts half the time, I was always so very happy to be here with you. The only thing that's changed since then is how much my love for you has grown."

Ataru nodded. "You're sure about this then?"

"Yes, Darling," Lum warmly replied. "If this is what you want to do, I'll support you one hundred percent."

He grinned and gave her an awkward hug, both of them being careful not to wake Keiko. "Then I guess we're finally coming home."

"I guess so," Lum replied, her eyes shining with excitement.

Glancing down at their daughter, Ataru chuckled. "She might just get that chance to drive Onsen-Mark nuts someday after all."

"Well, she is a Moroboshi," Lum remarked cheerfully. "And no one can argue that we aren't expert troublemakers."

* * *

"So, what happened?" Sayomi asked eagerly as Shutaro rejoined her in their waiting limo.

"He said yes," Shutaro replied with a smile. "I was bit surprised, but they've decided to stay."

"I'm glad," she replied honestly. "You've already been in a much better mood since they arrived."

"I suppose I have," he quietly admitted as he snuggled her to his side. "For some reason I've still felt a bit guilty about feeling happy after what happened."

"Your parents wouldn't have wanted that," Sayomi scolded him. "They would have wanted you to be very happy, I'm sure of it."

Shutaro nodded. "I know they would. And honestly I am feeling pretty good right now. I missed having those two around, and I think this will really help them out financially. Plus this will put the company one step closer to our goals." He paused. "I think father would have been proud of that."

"Well, I'm very proud of you, Shutaro," she told him. "I love you."

He gazed adoringly at the cute girl by his side, once again marveling that he had been lucky enough to meet her. "I love you too."

_The End._


End file.
